One Decision
by dawghere123
Summary: Change. One decision can make all the difference. Like dropping a stone into a pond, ripples of change can spread out and affect many lives and many seemingly unrelated events. One simple decision in early ninja history will affect the lives of characters we have come to know and love. Change will give rise to a new evil whose schemes will catch the ninja world unprepared.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1: Ghosts of the Past**

Change. One decision can make all the difference. Like dropping a stone into a pond, ripples of change can spread out and affect many lives and seemingly unrelated events.

Such is the case with our story. The story of Naruto as you know it will not be the same. Like the stone being dropped into the pond, one simple decision in early ninja history will affect the lives of Naruto, Sasuke, and other characters we have come to know and love. Ripples of change will give rise to a new evil, whose planning and schemes will catch the ninja world unprepared.

This pivotal decision began many years ago…..

Asura continued walking through the cave. His torch flickered, giving life to the shadows around him as he stepped over bodies. If he had to guess there were roughly over three hundred bodies strewn out in this room. He could tell by the puncture wounds to the hearts that most of the bodies had been hostages used as human sacrifices for blood seals. The other dead giveaway was that the bodies were also bound with rope.

Asura sighed as he surveyed the room. Unfortunately, this was not the first time he had seen this scene. On his journey through the cave he had stumbled across several other rooms which contained piles of bodies of people whom were captured and used for sacrifice.

These sacrifices were different though. Asura leaned down to examine the wound on a young man that couldn't have been older than 14. There was bruising around the puncture wound, which indicated that the young man had been stabbed hastily and forcefully. Usually the monsters holding the knife would take their sweet time performing a slow, precise cut which penetrated to the heart.

These "monsters" were in truth actually members of unholy cult which had been terrorizing the world for several years. Though they weren't great in number, their impact had been substantial. They would strike in the night, silently kidnapping families from their homes. Both civilians and ninja alike were targeted. Ninja were especially valuable to them for performing more complex blood seals that required blood from a more powerful sacrifice.

It wasn't till about a year ago that the feuding clans had struck a temporary alliance to deal with the cult. Even with the increased cooperation to purge this group, it hadn't been easy. The cult had kept well-hidden hideouts and held onto their secrets with an iron fist. Even captured members couldn't be interrogated. Every single member was bound to secrecy with a blood seal. Once they started to talk the blood seal imprinted on their chest would activate and kill the prisoner.

Needless to say, given the obstacles, progress had been slow in destroying the cult. The efforts of the clan alliance had not been in vain though. One by one they had found and destroyed hideout after hideout, till only one remained: the cave. As the most powerful member of the alliance, Asura had requested that he himself go in and apprehend the leader and the rest of his followers.

It was obvious that the cult knew this was the end. The hasty puncture wounds to the hearts of these latest sacrifices signified that they were trying cover up loose ends before the alliance could liberate the hostages.

Asura stepped out of the room and continued down the tunnel. He had destroyed enough of these hideouts to know that he was nearing the end. Finally, he would meet the monster that had plagued the land for too long.

As he walked, Asura started to see a faint light at the end of the tunnel. As he got closer, he could finally see that the light was escaping through a partially open door. Asura's heart started to beat quicker as he slowed his steps so that his feet were inaudible against the cave floor. He reached his hand up and snuffed out his torch, wincing as the flames licked his palm while dying.

Upon reaching the door, Asura hovered outside, listening for anything inside. After a few moments of silence, he was startled when a low, deep voice called out to him from inside "Otsutsuki… I should have known the alliance would send you. I would have rather avoided conflict with the last son of Hagoromo, but I guess it can't be helped. You can come in; I've been rather bored waiting for you."

Asura hesitated, but then reached forward to push door open slowly, keeping his senses on high alert for any traps. Once the door was open, Asura stepped inside and was temporarily blinded by the light in the room.

Slowly his eyes came into focus. The first thing he noticed was a man sitting on what appeared to be a throne made out of stone. The man looked pale and skinny. Asura could see the outline of his bones in his forearms and blood vessels were visible beneath the skin.

Despite his sickly appearance, the man looked rather young, maybe around his mid-twenties. He wore a white silk robe with a black trim outline. The wide sleeves of the robe extended to just below the elbows. His long dark hair was pulled back into a single braid.

The man was gazing at a glass of amber liquid in his right hand. "You know… I've always respected and hated your family". The man lifted his gaze to Asura, "I respected Hagoromo because he was an example of God. He was a being so powerful that people of their own free will and choice would bow down and worship him." The man raised his glass with a grin, "he showed each of us worms our potential and will undoubtedly go down in history as being a God of ninja."

The man then frowned and lowered his glass, "but then he had to go throw it all away by passing his mantle onto you, some boy who thinks he can save the world by helping old grannies across the street with their groceries. At least Indra would have retained some semblance of respect for the role as the successor of Ninshu".

"Enough!" Asura cut in. "I assume you're the leader of this glorious kingdom?" Asura mocked motioning to the empty room. "Where's the rest of your followers?"

The man smiled "oh them? I've sent them away to carry on my work should I lose here today."

Asura stared blankly at the man "do you really think you have a chance against me?"

The man smiled again "No, I suppose not… But I wouldn't be considered the only master of blood seals if I didn't at least try to kill you right?". With that the man quickly stood up and slammed his hands together in front of him, dropping his drink. "Blood art- Seal of Hell's Fire."

Asura reacted too late as red kanji symbols appeared glowing on the ground around him and ran up his legs all over his body. The first thing he noticed was that each kanji burned on his skin like a hot iron. The second thing he noticed was that he was unable to control his movements, as the seal was causing all of his muscles to spasm leaving him convulsing on the ground.

It was as if Asura had never experienced pain before. No amount of training or pain tolerance could have prepared him for what he was going through. His body was hellfire. His soul was hellfire. His emotions were hellfire. His mind couldn't even function enough to tell his body to scream. He laid there in hellish silence.

The man grunted as he poured every ounce of his chakra into the blood seal technique. This would be his one and only chance to kill Asura. "HOW DOES MY POWER FEEL? THIS BLOOD SEAL WAS MADE WITH THE BLOOD OF THOSE BODIES YOU PASTED IN THE CAVE. MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN YOU FAILED TO SAVE!" he screamed. "I WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOD IF NOT FOR YOU INSECTS!"

The man smiled as he exerted his will onto the silent hero. Veins were visible on his head as he struggled to hold the seal in place on the Otsutsuki.

Suddenly, he saw Asura's hands start to lift and shakily come together. "NO! YOU WILL DIE HERE AND NOW!" He pushed himself further, pouring his will and chakra into the seal he had created. The effect was notable as the red kanji burned brighter.

This time, Asura did scream.

Asura did everything he could to focus on a single thought. One small goal to keep his hands clasped together in a hand sign. If he let them come apart, he knew he would not be able to get them back together again and he would surely die. He would have to endure this struggle of wills with the man who had slaughtered children for his cursed blood seals. Pain was all Asura knew as he continued to focus on keeping his hands together.

"Shit!" the man cursed inwardly as he felt his chakra waiver for the briefest of seconds. This was the opportunity Asura needed. Alleviated from the pain for that brief moment, Asura performed the only ninjutsu that could save him.

The man backed away as 6 wooden poles erupted from the ground surrounding Asura. Each pole had kanji symbols carved into the wood. The red glowing kanji on Asura's skin started to move back down through his legs, across the ground, and onto the wooden poles. Each kanji found a spot on the pole where its symbol was carved and inserted itself into that spot. Soon, Asura was completely freed of the seal having transferred it onto the wood release technique.

Asura slowly got to his feet as he locked eyes with the man. Both men stood there in silence, save for their heavy breathing. Abruptly, the man threw back his head and started to laugh.

"Damn, I almost had you!" chuckled the man. "If I had had a few more months to perfect that seal you have died for sure. Probably would have only took another 50 or 60 sacrifices." The man sat back down in his chair "oh well, I gave it my best shot. Go ahead and do what you're going to do then."

Asura looked dumbfounded. "Is… Is this a game to you or something? You killed thousands of people to develop your cursed fuinjutsu." Asura's fists clenched and started to shake. "WHY?! Surely you know you're the bad guy right? No matter what you say, you can't have an excuse for what you've done to these families."

The man's eyes closed and his face took on a neutral expression. "You have no idea the potential power behind my blood seals. I was going to become a God of Gods."

"A God of Gods?"

"Yes parrot, a God of Gods." The man waved his hand. "Enough of this, do what you're going to do. No matter what happens my vision will live on with my followers whom have escaped."

Asura scowled. "We're going to track down the rest of your followers and-"

"No" the man cut in. "You won't ever find them. They have their mission to carry on my legacy. Once you kill me here, the clans will consider the matter settled and the alliance will crumble. One day my vision will be realized, long after you are dead in the ground."

Asura shook his head. "You're wrong. Those followers of yours are only pawns. Without their king they will fail." Asura took a step forward "no one will remember you after we are dead".

The man's eyes shot open "You're right Asura, no one will remember me because they will be all dead! My vision is the death of every man, woman, and child! Not just in a city or in a land, but in the entire world! EVERY MAN! EVERY WOMAN! EVERY CHILD! ONLY THEN WILL I OBTAIN MY THRONE AS A GOD of GODS!" The man laughed again as he lowered his voice. "Can I tell you a secret Asura? It is true that I need those sacrifices to obtain my goals… but I also enjoy it". A monstrous look came into his eyes "I enjoy making families watch as I kill their loved ones in front of them. I order my men to remove their gags when I perform sacrifices so that I can hear their cries of sorrow and pain. You should have seen the time when I-"

"SHUT UP!" Screamed Asura.

This is the moment when our story deviates from the original story of Naruto. In the original story Asura composes himself places a seal on the man to cut off all his access to chakra. The man is taken into custody where he never talks. The man eventually dies of old age where his final moments are rantings of insanity inside a jail cell.

That is not this story. In this story, Asura lets his anger get the best of him and he decides to execute the man.

Asura's chakra flared as he stuck his hand out, palm up. A black sphere manifested itself above his hand floating in the air.

"Ahh the infamous truth seeking orb", the man said staring at the little black ball. He then locked eyes with Asura, "don't you even want to know my name?"

"Who fucking cares" said Asura as he launched the orb at the man. The orb slammed through the man's heart and came out through the other side of the stone throne. The man continued to smile as life faded from his eyes. He slumped forward still seated on the throne.

Asura sighed, and made the orb disappear with a wave of his hand. He turned and walked out of the cave to report to the alliance leaders.

The cult leader was dead.

The terror was over.

Or was it?

* * *

Author Notes:

Hello friends! Unfortunately I do not understand Japanese grammar that well. I will not be using -Sama -kun and -chan. The best you'll see from me is some of the Jutsu in Japanese with a few -Sensei, Teme, and Dobe in there.

 **First question:**

 **Would you rather get punched in the balls (sorry ladies) by Tsunade or listen to Killer Bee rap on repeat for 24 hours?**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2: Girl in the Woods**

"Tell me Naruto, do you have someone precious to you?"

Naruto sat back in the grass to think. "Hmm well there's Jiji and Iruka-sensei. Both of them have been my friends and acknowledged me. Oh and then there's my girlfriend Sakura who is the prettiest kunoichi in all of Konoha!"

"You have a girlfriend?" Haku said with a raised eyebrow. "I mean no offense but you seem a little… young for that."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well… maybe she isn't exactly my girlfriend… I have asked her out on dates! Even though she has said no every time…" Naruto mused. "Ok maybe we aren't a couple yet but I'm sure she will yes one day once she recognizes Sasuke for the teme he is! Believe-"

Haku smiled and cut in "oh I'm sure she will Naruto."

"What about you Haku? Do you have anyone precious to you?" Naruto responded.

"Why yes I do. This person is most precious to me", Haku started gazing up at the sky, "this person rescued me and gave me purpose to life. My dream is to help my precious person realize their dream."

Naruto scratched his chin confused "but wait, don't you have any dreams of your own?"

Haku looked back down at Naruto again "my dream is their dream Naruto. If I didn't have my precious person, then my life would be without meaning."

"But you have to make a dream of your own! Look I get wanting to help others, my dream is to be Hokage someday. That goal is both for myself and for others. You shouldn't give up on your dream to help your precious person but you should also think about making goals of your own" said Naruto.

Haku pondered this for a moment and then smiled. "Ok Naruto I'll think about it. Now I must be getting back, I need to delivery these herbs." Haku stood up. "It was nice to meet you Naruto, I sincerely hope you realize your dream of being Hokage."

"Nice to meet you too Haku! I hope we meet again someday" waved Naruto.

Haku started to walk away but then stopped and turned back towards Naruto. "Oh and Naruto, I'm actually a boy".

"WHAAAAAAT!" yelled Naruto with his eyes wide and hands at the sides of his face.

Haku giggled, "Just kidding Naruto, I'm actually a girl. Just wanted to see the look on your face." She waved turning back towards the path and walked off.

* * *

Sakura was pissed to say the least. Sasuke had left Tazuna's house early that morning to train in tree climbing, which left her alone to go fetch Naruto. The idiot never came back last night which had left her and Kakashi-sensei worried about what might have happened to him. _'Kakashi-sensei did say that Zabuza is most likely still out there… Geez I hope nothing happened to that idiot Naruto'_ Sakura thought to herself.

Suddenly, Sakura became very aware that she was alone in the woods looking for her teammate that might have chopped down by a missing-nin who was a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. Not even inner Sakura had anything confident to shout.

Now on edge, Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a figure approaching her down the trail. As the figure got closer, Sakura noticed it was a teenage girl wearing a pink kimono carrying a basket.

Sakura waved and greeted her as she approached. "Hello there, my name is Sakura Haruno. I was wondering if you have seen my teammate. He is about this tall with blond hair and with an ugly orange outfit on", Sakura motioned with her hand.

The girl smiled at Sakura "Oh so you're a ninja too? Yes I believe your teammate is just up ahead. He said something about continuing his training."

"That's Naruto for you, always training hard to try and be the best. Too bad he'll never be as strong as my Sasuke" responded Sakura.

"Hmm I don't know who this Sasuke is but I think your teammate is rather strong. He seems rather set on becoming the Hokage of your village someday."

"Oh you heard about that? That's just like Naruto, trying to tell anyone who'll listen that he'll be some grand leader someday." Sakura looked down at the girl's basket. "Agrimony and Corydalis? The ninja academy taught us to use those for cuts and wounds out in the field. Is everything ok?"

The girl seemed to visibly tense as she switched her basket to her other hand. "Oh it's for my grandfather. He accidentally cut his hand while cooking yesterday. Speaking of that, I really ought to get back to him, it was nice meeting you." The girl gave a quick bow and started walking away.

"Oh ok, thanks again!" Sakura waved, puzzled by the girl's strange behavior. Sakura continued up the trail, occasionally looking back towards the girl disappearing in the distance. Something seemed… off about that conversation.

Her train of thought was broken as she heard some obnoxious yelling in the distance. Coming into a clearing, she spotted an orange blob darting up a tree and coming back down again.

"Hey Naruto, are you going to come eat breakfast or not?" Sakura yelled out.

Naruto turned his head "Oh Hey Sakura! Check out how far I can go up the tree now. Pretty impressive right?" he beamed.

Sakura looked up the tree at the marks he had made with his kunai. "Actually, ya Naruto you're doing pretty well. You might just get to the top by the end of the day", she looked back down at him, "but you should come eat some breakfast. You've probably used up a lot of chakra."

An audible growl hummed in the clearing.

Naruto looked down and rubbed his stomach. "Now that you mention it, I am pretty hungry. Do you think Tsunami will be making some ramen?"

Sakura face palmed, "Idiot you can't eat ramen for breakfast!" She glanced down and took notice of the plants in the area and thought back to the girl she had met earlier. "Say Naruto, did you meet a girl today wearing a pink kimono?"

"You bet I did! I helped her gather some herbs. She was real nice and really pretty!" Naruto exclaimed.

A hint of jealousy rose in Sakura as she clenched her fists at her sides. "Idiot! I didn't ask what she looked like!" Her demeanor softened. "Did she say what she was gathering the herbs for?"

"She said she was gathering them for someone precious to her" Naruto responded.

"Did she say what was wrong with the person?" Sakura queried.

"Uhh… no just that they were sick or something." Naruto scratched his chin. "Why does that matter anyways?"

"Because those herbs aren't for someone who is ill. They are meant to treat wounds like cuts or gashes." Sakura looked back down the trail where she had met the girl. "On top of that she told me they were for a hand cut…. but she had way more than she needed. Anyone familiar with the basics of herbal medicine would know that." She turned back to Naruto "Don't you remember that from the academy?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly "Geez Sakura, to be honest all these plants look the same to me. I guess I was sick that day of class."

"Or you were too busy pulling one of your stupid pranks." Sakura sighed "anyways, let's get back to the house, Kakashi-sensei is expecting us. Oh and in the future Naruto, you should really check in with your teammates. We were worried that something happened to you last night."

Naruto started to walk and then turned back with a big smile on his face. "Wait a second, you were worried about me last night? Do you often think about me at night whenever your dream-"

Naruto was cut off by a swift punch to the back of the head courtesy of Sakura's fist.

"Idiot! Don't be getting the wrong idea! Now get walking."

* * *

Shortly thereafter, Sakura and Naruto walked through the door at Tazuna's house, smelling the sweet smell of breakfast.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" greeted Naruto as he approached and took a seat next to the masked man at the table.

Kakashi turned towards him with his signature eye smile, "Hey Naruto, glad to see you're all right. I was worried sick that my cute little Genin had gotten himself lost in the woods. Whatever would I have done without you?"

"Ya ya whatever Kakashi-sensei. Hey you should see how far I've gone up the tree! I'm almost to the top!" Naruto exclaimed.

Just at that moment a younger looking pretty woman with dark hair walked into the room carrying a tray of food. "Breakfast is served!" she said while putting the food down on the table.

"Thank you Ms. Tsunami, that sure smells good!" Naruto yelled as he reached forward and started shoving food into his mouth fistfuls at a time.

"Naruto, remember your manners. That's no way to eat while staying with guests" Kakashi commented. He then turned towards their host "but the food does smell good. Thank you Tsunami."

A light blush tinted her cheeks, "oh think nothing of it. It's just a little something I quickly put together." She then turned towards the door, "oh it looks like your other teammate has arrived."

Everyone turned towards the door. Standing there was Sasuke covered with dirt and small cuts, indicators that he had spent the morning training.

"Nice of you to join us Sasuke, we went ahead and started without you" said Kakashi. "You should really try to be more on time in the future, it's rude to show up late."

All three Genin scowled at their instructor.

"You're one to talk Sensei! You're always showing up late and giving lame ass excuses!" Naruto accused pointing at Kakashi.

"Ya! You helped some old lady by rescuing her cat out of a tree and then you walked her home carrying her groceries? Like anyone would believe that" shouted Sakura.

Kakashi continued to stare lazily at the doorway for several seconds before turning towards Naruto and Sakura. "Hmm? Did you two say something?"

Naruto and Sakura's faces hit the table.

Tsunami blushed again. _'He is so awesome'_ she thought to herself.

"Stop trying to act cool Kakashi" Sasuke took his seat at the table before loading up his plate with food.

"Hey Sasuke! How's the tree climbing going? I bet you've already made it to the top haven't you?" Sakura perked up.

"Hn" was the only response she got from the Uchiha.

"Hn nothing, I bet I've gotten farther than you! I've nearly gotten to the top" boasted Naruto. "Oh and I also met a pretty girl today. I'm pretty sure she wants to see me again. She's far cuter than any of your fangirls."

Sakura stared daggers at Naruto.

Naruto wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the pouch. Several moments passed before he realized what he had implied with his words. A look of horror spread across his face.

"W-w-what I meant to say was she isn't really THAT cute. I-I-I can think of plenty of Konoha girls that are better looking than her!" He stammered.

"Whatever" mumbled Sasuke.

' _ **Damn right there are better looking Konoha girls!**_ ' shouted inner Sakura in her mindscape.

"Hey that actually reminds me", said Sakura as she turned towards Kakashi, "I noticed something strange in the woods today."

"And what would that be?" questioned Kakashi.

"Well I met the girl Naruto is talking about and something seemed off about her. She said she was gathering some healing herbs for her grandpa who had cut his hand. The thing is, she was gathering way more than she would need for a simple cut to the hand" stated Sakura.

"Hmm I don't want to jump to conclusions here, but are you thinking she is gathering those herbs for Zabuza or something?" said Kakashi.

"Well... ya maybe. Zabuza did have a lot of wounds from your battle. I was just thinking, maybe she was that other Hunter-nin that took Zabuza away" stated Sakura.

This caught Naruto and Sasuke's attention as they looked up from their food to pay attention.

Kakashi rested his head in his hands and closed his eyes for a few seconds to ponder. After a few moments he spoke up, "It's a good thought Sakura, but I don't think she was that other ninja.

"Why not?" questioned Sakura.

"Well the fact that Naruto is still alive and breathing tells me she isn't hostile." He turned towards Naruto. "Was Sakura with you when you met her or were you by yourself?"

"No I was alone. In fact, she was the one to wake me up. She was seeing if I was ok or not" Naruto said.

Kakashi turned back towards Sakura. "If she was hostile then attacking Naruto while he was sleeping would have made the most sense."

"Oh, ok that makes sense" said Sakura with a slightly downcast face.

Kakashi was hit with a pang of guilt when he saw his student's change in demeanor.

"Buuuut…. we should always be vigilant. Why don't we send out one of Naruto's clones to track her down to double check that she isn't in cahoots with Zabuza?" Kakashi said, hoping to improve Sakura's spirits.

Sakura smiled "Ya ok!"

"But Kakashi-sensei, what if something happens to my clone along the way before it gets back to the house? Then we'd never know if that girl is working with Zabuza or not" Naruto piped up. "Wouldn't it be better if I went myself to check in on her?"

"Dobe, you just want to see the girl again" said Sasuke.

Naruto blushed, "Noooo! I just want to make sure I carry out the mission effectively! If one of my clones were to do something stupid, like tripping on a rock, then it could be dispelled too early and we would lose the information it gathered."

Kakashi stared at Naruto for a second. "Naruto, you do realize you would still get the information you needed so long as the clone actually confirmed that the girl is not with Zabuza right? It doesn't matter if it got dispelled on the way back."

Naruto gave Kakashi a puzzled look. "How could we know what it saw if the clone got dispelled too early?"

"Naruto… how long have you been using Kage Bunshin no Jutsu? Inquired Kakashi.

"Umm I guess I've been using it for a while now. Maybe a few months?"

"And you never noticed anything unusual when your Kage Bunshin dispel?"

Naruto felt uneasy as if Kakashi was fishing for a certain answer. "Umm…. no….."

Kakashi sighed _. 'How this is Sensei's son I'll never know'_. "Ok Naruto, time for a learning moment… but what's the best way to teach you?" Kakashi thought out loud. A thought occurred to him and he smiled "Sasuke come here for a second I need to tell you something".

"Hn" Sasuke put his empty plate down and stood up to walk around the table. Once he got to Kakashi, Kakashi leaned in and whispered something into his ear. The faintest of smiles crossed Sasuke's face as he listened.

Kakashi leaned back, "Can you do that for me Sasuke?"

"Ya sure" Sasuke responded. The Uchiha turned towards Naruto "Hey dobe, make a Kage Bunshin and have it follow me outside."

"Whatever Teme, I don't take orders from you!" Naruto responded.

"Naruto, this is part of your learning exercise. Would you please make a clone and have it follow Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"Fine, but I'm not doing this for Sasuke." Naruto crossed his fingers in a familiar hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A solid clone of Naruto appeared in the room.

Naruto pointed as Sasuke "Hey, I need you to follow him outside".

"Why?" the clone asked.

"Because it's part of a learning exercise." The real Naruto responded.

"You follow him out, I don't want to hang out with the Teme" the fake responded.

"You don't get to decide, I'm your boss you have to do what I say!" the real Naruto shouted.

"Fine whatever…" the clone followed Sasuke to the doorway, "…asshole" it muttered under its breath.

"What did you say to me!" roared Naruto. "I'll come out there and-"

"Naruto let it go" said a clearly exhausted Kakashi. "Do you always have this problem with your clones?"

"Most of the time no, but sometimes I create some clones that are real dicks" said Naruto.

Sakura thought about that for a second. "But Naruto those clones are exact copies of y-"she was stopped short when she saw Kakashi waving his hands behind Naruto telling her to stop talking.

"What was that Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Oh… nothing, don't worry about it" Sakura said as she shared a smile with Kakashi.

"Ok my cute little Genin, let's stop talking and focus. Naruto you tell me when you notice something out of the ordinary" Stated Kakashi.

 _Outside the House_

The fake Naruto followed Sasuke out to a small clearing by the house. Suddenly, Sasuke stopped and turned towards the clone.

"Hey dobe, what do you notice about those trees over there?" Sasuke pointed behind the clone.

Fake Naruto turned around surveyed the area. "I don't see anything unusual, what am I supposed to-"

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"

The clone whirled around and was meet with the sight of a giant ball of fiery death. Knowing that it had no chance of dodging, the clone did the only sensible thing he could think of. He made eye contact with the Uchiha and flipped him off.

Sasuke watched as the fireball engulfed the defiant clone, making it disappear. Silence hung in the air as Sasuke exhaled a deep breath.

Man was that satisfying.

 _Inside the House_

Naruto's eyes went wide as a thought occurred to him. Standing up out of his chair he shouted "that does it! I'm going to go out there and kick that Uchiha bastard's ass!"

"Woah Naruto what's wrong?" Questioned Sakura.

"He fire-balled my clone, that's what's wrong!" Naruto said shaking his fist.

Kakashi cut in "and how do you know that?"

"I just…. I… hmmm" Naruto said while scratching his chin.

"Do you get it now? You receive any memories or thoughts that your Kage Bunshin learn once they dispel" explained Kakashi. "You learned that Sasuke attacked your clone even though you weren't outside to see it."

"Woah that's actually pretty cool" said a wide eyed Sakura.

Naruto grinned "ya it is pretty cool isn't it Sakura?"

"Ya it's pretty cool" said a stoic voice. Everyone turned and saw Sasuke leaning against the doorway. "Let me know if you need help again in the future. I'd be happy to beat up on Naruto clones all day".

"Hey! You attacked him while his back was turned! There's no way he would have gone down that easy if you had faced him head on instead of pulling a dirty trick!" Naruto Accused.

"We're ninja, we're supposed to attack an opponent from behind when they're least expecting it" Sasuke responded.

Naruto thought on that for a moment and then an evil grin crossed his face. "Ok Teme, I'll remember that."

Silence hung in the air as the rest of Team 7 wondered what was going through Naruto's disturbed brain.

"Hn, whatever dobe" Sasuke closed his eyes while he leaned on the doorway.

"Anyways, let's get back to our previous conversation" Kakashi spoke up. He turned towards Naruto "let's send one of your Kage Bunshin after the girl and make sure nothing suspicious is going on."

"But Sensei, I have no idea where she went. How am I supposed to find her?" Naruto questioned.

"No worries, I'll take care of that". Kakashi brought his thumb up to his mouth and bit it. The Jounin ran through a series of hand signs and slammed his hand to the ground. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

A puff of smoke appeared beneath Kakashi's hand. When the smoke cleared, the rest of Team 7 saw a little brown pug with a blue Konoha headband sitting on the ground.

"Yo Kakashi what's up?" said the pug.

"WHAAAT?! Did that dog just talk?!" yelled Sakura.

"Ya I did and I'm not just some dog. The name's Pakkun", the dog looked up at Kakashi, "so these are the new students eh? I can't believe you finally passed a Genin team."

"That's right, he passed us because we're the best Genin team he has ever seen!" exclaimed Naruto.

"Ya sure kid", the dog turned towards Naruto, "say… maybe I'm getting a bad case of déjà vu but you almost look exactly like Kakashi's old sensei Min-"

"HEY!" Kakashi cut in, waving his hands around to get everyone's attention. "Pakkun, we'll have to talk later and catch up on a few things. I actually summoned you because I need a favor."

"Ya sure, what do you need?" responded the Ninken.

"I need you to track someone down for me. Naruto and Sakura-", Kakashi pointed towards his two students, "- met someone suspicious today in the woods. We want to know if they are working with a missing-nin named Zabuza. If Naruto makes a Kage Bunshin, would you follow it to the woods and help it find the person?"

"Ya sure, why not?" said the ninja hound lazily. The hound turned towards Naruto "ok kid, lead the way."

"Right", Naruto brought his fingers up and crossed them, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Another Naruto appeared in a puff of smoke.

"I need you to take Pakkun to the woods where we met Haku earlier today to track her down" said the real Naruto.

"Wait a sec", said the clone, "let me get this straight, you want me to go and track down the pretty girl we met earlier today?"

A light blush tinted Naruto's cheeks "Ya…"

The clone flash a huge smile and gave a thumbs up "You got it boss! Let's go Pak… um… Pakkan?"

"It's Pakkun" muttered the dog as he followed the clone outside.

"Ok then", everyone turned towards Kakashi, "while they are tracking down the girl, you boys better get back to tree climbing. I'm still waiting to see who is going to take that 2nd place spot behind our dear Sakura" Kakashi eye smiled as he patted a smiling Sakura on the head.

* * *

Gato breathed heavily as he walked up the steps. Why his new potential business associates would want to meet him at some old shack in the middle of nowhere was beyond him. He had offered to house them at one of his own luxury buildings. He owned his own private island near the land of waves. There, he had a 5 story tall resort with hot springs, pools, a fancy restaurant, and (most importantly) a conference center. The conference center was where he had negotiated hundreds of deals. It was maintained at the perfect condition for his liking, 20˚ C with an indoor humidity of 15%. 20˚ C probably seems a little cold for most people, but Gato liked it so he ordered that his staff keep it at 20, even if he wasn't there. The seats were nice and padded. The women serving him warm food and cold drinks during the meetings were young and in their sexual prime. They also gave him something to look forward to after the meeting was over. How else would they move up in his company unless they "served" him after their work shift was over?

With all that in mind, again he asked himself, why in the hell was he walking a few kilometers up to some old abandoned shack on an island he'd never been on before?

Oh, because ninjas are freaking idiots, that's why.

The meeting had been arranged a few days ago. After his encounter with Zabuza, where the Demon's brat nearly broke his arm, Gato had decided that he would have to deal with the missing-nin. Nobody, whether civilian or ninja, should be courageous enough to even think about laying a finger on him. Yet, this idiotic brat had dared to assault him.

Originally, Gato had called together his league of mercenaries to pick up the trash after Zabuza fought the Konoha ninja. Either Zabuza would succeed in killing Tazuna and his entourage, or Zabuza would be killed leaving behind tired and wounded Konoha ninja. Gato didn't really care which way it went. Either his men would kill a tired Zabuza or his men would kill some tired Konoha ninja and Tazuna.

The only thing that Gato really cared about was what would happen to Zabuza's brat. He was ok with the brat being killed, but would prefer if the brat were captured alive. That way Gato himself could teach her a lesson in respect. First he would abuse her and then he would have her publically executed like that Kaiza fellow.

But plans change. One of Gato's men had brought up the fact that Zabuza was fetching a high price in the bingo book. Kirigakure would handsomely reward whomever brought him in, dead or alive.

It wasn't the reward money per se that peaked Gato's interest, but rather what the high reward money implied. Kiri's Mizukage had personal interest in seeing that the missing-nin was dealt with. Gato's research found that some years ago Zabuza had tried to assassinate Yagura. Why Zabuza would do something so foolish was a mystery to Gato, but now Yagura wanted revenge and to get one of the Seven Swords back in the possession of Kirigakure.

Wherever there is a personal vendetta, there is always business opportunity.

Gato owned one of the largest shipping companies in the entire world. Kirigakure was a country made up of hundreds of islands. Due to the layout of this geography, shipping was a profitable but competitive industry. Gato's company was currently doing a lot of shipping for Kiri, but not all of it.

Gato hoped to broker a deal to change that.

Gato had sent off a letter to their Mizukage informing him that Gato knew where to find Zabuza, and that he'd be willing to work out a deal for that information. He had invited the Mizukage himself to come to Gato's resort to negotiate the deal. What Gato hadn't detailed in the letter was that he wanted to have the sole exclusive rights to perform all the shipping for Kirigakure. A contract like that would make the bingo book reward for Zabuza's head seem like chump change.

He was initially excited when he received a letter back from the Mizukage that very same day. His excitement quickly turned into frustration when he read the response letter. The Mizukage's letter was short and to the point. Yagura informed Gato that he himself would not be coming for the negotiation but that he would be sending a team of Jounin Hunter-nin to represent him. In addition, they would not be conducting the meeting at Gato's resort, but instead would meet him at a set of coordinates detailed at the bottom of the letter at noon in two days' time.

Two days' time was now today which was pretty short notice given how busy the businessman's schedule was. The coordinates detailed in the letter fell on an old abandoned cabin on an unoccupied island. He figured that Yagura's changing of the meeting location was a negotiation tactic. The idea was to take Gato out of his familiar surroundings and to establish that they would be dictating how the meeting was going to go. A negotiation power play. Gato himself had used this business tactic every time he had invited clients to his resort.

Gato would have rejected the offer and stuck to meeting at his resort if he hadn't had been in such a time crunch. The first point would go to Yagura, but that would be the only point he would get. Gato figured he could talk circles around a bunch of brain dead Hunter-nin. They would probably resort to brutish tactics like intimidation to try to get the deal to go their way. While brutish tactics certainly had their place, that wouldn't work on him. He was a powerful, wealthy man and he intended to show them such.

Which is why he was currently being accompanied by his entire mercenary force. 200 men who were trained killers. Hard men that wouldn't take shit from anyone.

As Gato and his small army continued to walk, a small brown building came into view. Looking down at his watch, he saw that the time was 12:20 pm. Good, he had keep them waiting 20 minutes. He was purposefully arriving late to give the impression that this deal wasn't important enough to him to be on time for. While the deal was important to him, he didn't want the ninja to know that. He wanted to give the impression that he would be willing to leave today without giving them his information if they didn't give into his demands.

Gato walked up to the cabin with his men in tow. There standing off to the side were five Kiri Hunter-nin dressed in grey-blue clothing with an even darker grey-blue Kiri flak jackets on. Three of them had male like figures and the other two looked to be females. The sight was eerie given the masks they were wearing. Emotionless masks with slits for eyes. The only thing that distinguished them from one another was the coloring on their white masks.

The three males had masks on with blue, black, and purple markings. The first mask had three stacked horizontal blue lines above the left eye slit. The second mask had markings that looked like black tears streaming down from both eye slits. The third mask had a thick purple diagonal line that started from the top left side of the mask that extended down to the bottom right side of the mask.

The two females had masks on with orange and green markings. The first mask had markings that looked like orange fire enveloping the right eye slit. The second had a green oval over the mouth area of the mask making the mask look like it was screaming.

Gato knew that if he were establish himself as the dominant party in this deal, he would have to take control. Without any hesitation, Gato left his men and walked up to the group of shinobi.

"My Name is Gato, owner of the prestigious Gato Company. Now which one of you is the leader of this little group?"

The shinobi stood there motionless, not making a sound. Seconds ticked by into an uncomfortable minute as Gato grew impatient with the group.

"What? Do those masks plug your ears or something? Which one of you is the leader?"

A few more seconds ticked by when finally the Hunter-nin with black markings stepped forward silently.

"Finally, as if we haven't wasted enough time having to meet at this dump. Now then, let's go inside and talk." He looked at the other four Hunter-nin "I hope you will be comfortable outside here with my men, I apologize but I don't think I can fit them all into that little shack. Don't worry though, they don't bite", Gato grinned.

A rumble of laughter echoed within the large mercenary group.

Gato looked back at the leader "you will be talking to me inside alone. I will be accompanied by my two samurai guards to make sure you don't try to pull any weird ninja magic stuff." Gato turned back to his men "Zori! Waraji!"

Two grinning men with swords stepped forward out of the group. One was not wearing a shirt and had an eye-patch over his right eye. The other had a pale jacket on with a beanie hat on his head. Both had samurai swords on their waists.

Gato walked over to the door of the cabin and waited. Zori quickly approached and opened up the door for him to go inside. Gato walked through the door and waved for the Hunter-nin leader to come inside along with his men.

The Hunter-nin with black markings said nothing as he silently strode forward through the door, following Gato and his bodyguards.

The cabin was bare save for a small square table with two wooden chairs in the middle of the room. Gato took a seat at one of the chairs with his bodyguards behind him, while the Hunter-nin took a seat in the other chair across from him.

"Let's get down to business then", Gato reached inside his jacket and pulled out an envelope, "this contains proof that I know where Zabuza Momochi is." Gato took a piece of paper out of the envelope and slid it across the table. "That's the contract he signed with me to assassinate someone I don't want around anymore. He has yet to fulfill his end of the deal and will be attempting the assassination tomorrow."

"Here is the deal, I will give you his location if you will agree to certain conditions as the representative of your Mizukage." Gato held up one finger "first, I don't want you to kill the girl brat that is accompanying him. I want her captured and delivered to me for my own personal interests."

He lifted up a second finger "second, I want sole exclusive rights for my company to perform all shipping operations for Kirigakure. I will of course give you a discounted service for selecting me as your only shipping provider, but under this new deal any of your citizens that try to use a different shipping company after today will be punished by your government. Really this deal is a win-win for both of us since I can offer your village the best shipping prices and you can-"

"No."

Silence hung in the air as Gato was taken back by the interruption from the ninja. "Umm excuse me?"

"No. We will not be making any deals" the ninja said flatly. "Give me the location of Momochi."

Gato laughed "well I'll say this, you got some big balls on you. Listen, let's not further waste each other's time. This little intimidation game might work with other people but it doesn't work on me. I know your Mizukage wants Zabuza dead and he wants his nation's little sword back. I'm not going to give that information away for free."

The ninja spoke up again "tell me where Momochi is or you and your men die."

Gato gritted his teeth and stared angrily at the ninja across the table. "Are you threatening me boy? Maybe you don't understand who I am. I am Gato, the wealthiest man you will ever meet. I make more money in a day then you would over several lifetimes. Outside are 200 armed killers that are just waiting for me to say the word to slaughter your pathetic little pack of ninja. I would be very careful with your next words, otherwise I'll be sending you back to Yagura in a box with your bodies chopped in little pieces."

Suddenly the ninja lifted his hand up in front of his face. On edge, the two bodyguards drew their swords and got them at the ready.

"You are a pathetic little man Gato. You were an idiot to insult and underestimate shinobi" the ninja stated. "You think those two guys next to you are samurai? You don't know what a real samurai is. A real samurai would make those two shit their pants. Now it's time you learned respect."

The ninja snapped the fingers in his lifted hand.

Nothing happened for several seconds. Gato sat there confused waiting for something to happen. Looking back at his guards, they simply shrugged indicating they had no idea what was going on.

Gato shook his head. "What a waste of time" he stood up from his chair. "Have your Mizukage contact me in person when he is ready to make a deal. Just know that my price has gone up for this information next time we arrange a meeting."

Gato walked past his guards who were still standing at the ready. Pushing the door open, he stopped at the sight before his eyes, his mouth falling wide open.

Everyone was dead.

All of his mercenaries were on the ground in pools of blood. Some were mangled beyond recognition. Body parts and organs were scattered across the ground. Any faces he could see on the bodies looked like they were trying to scream, forever petrified in a state of horror. Corpses were dangling from the branches of nearby trees. The whole area looked like it had been painted red with blood and gore.

And there, standing across the way, were the other four Hunter-nin, staring at Gato. Not a speck of red could be seen on their clothing.

Suddenly, he heard two thuds behind him. Turning around quickly, he saw the lead ninja standing behind the bloodied dead bodies of Zori and Waraji.

Panic rose in Gato's chest as he stumbled backwards outside of the cabin. He started to hyperventilate from the fear gripping his mind. Tripping on something, he fell backwards onto the grass. The grass felt warm and wet. Looking down, he saw his hands and suit had blood all over from where he had fallen. Fear gave way to nausea has he started to dry heave from the sight and the smell around him.

"12 seconds."

"W-w-what?" Gato said looking up at the lead ninja who had just spoken, that was standing in the doorway of the cabin.

"The time from when I snapped my fingers, to when you opened up the door of the cabin. 12 seconds. That's how long it took for my team to kill all of your men. Probably happened quicker than that though, since I didn't hear any screaming." The ninja walked forward and crouched down in front of Gato.

"P-p-please don't kill me!" Gato shrieked. "I-I-I'm sorry for what I said. I have money! Name your price and I'll give it to you if you don't hurt me!"

"I don't give a damn about your money" the ninja replied.

"I-I-I'll tell you where Zabuza is! Just let me leave this island unharmed…" Gato pleaded.

"No, I want you to lead us to Zabuza. Once we lay eyes on him, you'll be free to go. If we find out that you were lying and you don't know where he is, well…. we'll deal with that appropriately."

* * *

At first the scent had been difficult for Pakkun to locate. The blond kid's clone had led him to a clearing full of all types of blooming herbs and flowers. The aromas in the air were overpowering and would have made it impossible for a normal hound to differentiate the girl's fading scent in the forest air.

Luckily, Pakkun wasn't a normal hound.

The ninken had picked up the girl's scent on a trail leading out of the clearing. The scent followed the marked trail for a while before abruptly veering off into the woods. The brush was thick, making travel very difficult. Normally, Pakkun would avoid the brush by jumping from tree branch to tree branch. Given his current company however, he felt like he had better keep traveling on the ground. Kakashi's kids were just barely learning tree climbing and he didn't want the clone to make a mistake and accidentally dispel itself too early.

"Hey wait up!" Pakkun's chain of thought was broken as he heard the blonde's voice behind him. Looking back, he saw the clone stumbling through the brush with scuff marks on his body.

"You're not really the stealthy type are you Naruto?" Pakkun shook his head.

"And you're not really the tracking type! I think you got us lost. No way Haku is wandering out here. I'm having a hard enough time getting through this brush and I'm a freaking ninja! No way would a girl like Haku take this route" retorted the Naruto clone.

"You're right she didn't take this route", the dog looked upward, "she actually jumped from tree branch to tree branch above. I'm just barely catching her scent down here. The scent trail is much stronger above us in the trees".

The clone looked upwards, eyes wide. "No way… to jump between branches like that she'd have to be…"

"…A ninja" finished the hound.

The clone stood there in silence a bit longer and then shook his head. "No way, there must be another explanation. I didn't talk to her long but I can tell she is a good person. She wouldn't help out a guy like Zabuza."

"I don't know what to tell you kid but I hope you're right", with that the ninja hound continued onward.

Hours passed as the pair made their way through the forest. Not only was the brush thick, but Pakkun found himself having trouble following the scent. Several times they had run into dead ends where the girl apparently doubled back on her own trail.

He didn't tell the boy, but it was obvious that the girl didn't want to be found.

Dusk was starting to settle in when Pakkun came to a sudden stop. There ,a ways in front of him, was a cabin in the middle of the woods. Candles could be seen illuminating the windows.

The clone came lumbering in slowly behind him with it's shoulders slumped and head down. "Hey when are we going to get there? I'm about ready to kunai myself out of existence rather than walk any-"

"SHHHH", Pakkun shushed in a whisper, "Look". He pointed his paw towards the cabin.

The clone straightened up and found new life when he saw the dimly lit cabin. "Do you think that's Haku's house?" the clone whispered.

"Maybe, but we got to be careful. We'll need to sneak in silently. If they catch us then our cover will be blown and –", the dog stopped and looked back at the Naruto clone. The same Naruto clone that had probably alerted half the forest of their presence with its talking and whining.

The pug pondered the situation for a moment. "Actually change of plans, I'm going to sneak in there alone."

"What why? I didn't walk around all day to just sit here on my ass while you do the exciting stuff" the clone exclaimed in an elevated whisper.

"No offense kid, but you have about as much stealth as an explosive tag" the hound whispered. "Look I'll be able to get in nice and close if I'm alone. I'll go by the cabin and listen for a while. You stay here and just watch me from a distance. At some point I'll unsummon myself if I find out information that I need to pass on to Kakashi. Once you see me disappear in a cloud of smoke, then you need to dispel yourself. Your mental instructions to the real Naruto will be for him to tell Kakashi to summon me again so I can tell your team what I found out while I was near the cabin."

The clone sat there thinking for a few seconds. "Ok sounds like a plan. Just be sure to check inside to see if Haku is in there or not."

"I'll see what I can do kid" the hound remarked as he started back through the bushes towards the cabin.

* * *

As one would expect, a Demon of the Mist wouldn't have many leisurely pursuits. The closest thing Zabuza had to a hobby was taking care of his ninja tools. As a one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, he appreciated a fine weapon with a sharp blade.

Laying all around the cabin were tools of all kinds. Kunai, shuriken, and knifes made up the majority of the mess. All of them were cleaned and sharpened multiple times by a ninja with too much time on his hands. Zabuza had been restricted to staying inside the cabin while he healed from his encounter with the Copy-nin. Days of boredom had done nothing to improve his spirits.

It was never a good idea to keep a demon cooped up for long.

His only relief from staring at the walls when Haku was away were his blades. Each one was now ready for battle, even though he wouldn't likely use any kunai or shuriken tomorrow. All he really needed was Kubikiribocho. His prized possession was currently resting on his lap, being sharpened in preparation for the coming fight.

Haku approached her master while stirring together a thick green paste. "Master Zabuza, you need to let me redress those wounds. I know you're able to move around, but it's important we allow your injuries to finish healing tonight".

Zabuza stopped sharpening his blade with a grumble. "Whatever, let's just get this over with".

Haku worked at undressing the wounds made from the multiple kunai that had punctured Zabuza's body. Undoing the bandages revealed newly healed pink skin. Haku used her fingers to gently dab some of the green herbal paste onto the wound area. The process took some time since she had to rub the paste on until she was sure it absorbed through the skin.

Several minutes passed in silence as the medicine was applied.

Finally Zabuza turned his head towards his apprentice. "You know that we are attacking the bridge tomorrow, right?"

Haku gave a silent nod.

"You know those leaf ninja will show up again. I'll need you to take care of the Genin while I take on Kakashi". Silence hung in the air. "You know what that means right? You'll have to kill all three of them and the bridge builder if the opportunity presents itself".

Haku stopped rubbing in the paste and stared at the ground. "I met one of them today."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow, "Met one of who?"

"One of those Genin. In the forest while I was gathering some herbs I found the boy in the orange clothes sleeping."

"…. And? I'm going to assume that you didn't kill him."

"… Sorry Master Zabuza. I haven't found the strength to… take care of my enemies like you have. He was very nice."

Zabuza shook his head. "Haku, a true shinobi doesn't let their emotions get in the way of their mission. If you're going to be of use to me I need you to be a shinobi. I need you to let go of your passive nature. Raise your head and look at me."

Haku looked up from the ground and locked eyes with her master.

"Haku, answer me this, what is your mission?"

"To help you realize your dreams and ambitions Master Zabuza."

"And what are my dreams and ambitions?"

"To free the Mist of Yagura Master."

"Ya that's putting it nicely. Haku, I intend to kill Yagura. I intend to usurp the Yondaime Mizukage. I intend to chop the head off the perfect Jinchuriki of the damn Sanbi! Do you realize what kind of undertaking that is? Yagura isn't a man, not anymore anyways. Yagura is a monster. I've fought and killed many ninja in my life and never have I feared any of them. Even the other day when those leaf ninja had me stuck like a pin cushion to a tree, I wasn't afraid. We had a plan and we were in control."

"Yagura is the exception. He has caused so much needless death and destruction to our own people that I fear the Mist will never fully recover. You know I tried to kill him once. Me and a few others snuck into the Mizukage tower at night to take his life. The others in my group were supposed to provide a distraction while I snuck in from behind killed him. As I was getting into position, my group ran into his guards too early and started a fight."

Zabuza closed his eyes "I watched it all from an outside window. Yagura came out of his bedroom and transformed into this red monster. It was over in less than a minute. He slaughtered the members of my party as well as his own guards in his rampage. I watched him make some war veteran high class ninja look like they had never been in a fight before. Almost the entire east side of the tower was obliterated. But it's what happened afterwards that haunts me the most."

Zabuza opened his eyes locking eyes with Haku again, "when he transformed back into a human, he walked back into his bedroom like nothing happened. He wasn't smiling, he wasn't angry or sad. He was simply… there, like he just got home from a trip to the store."

"I finally stepped inside the window and went into his bedroom. I figured that he wouldn't be expecting two attacks in the same night. He was laying there on his bed, looking like a sleeping child. I lifted my blade and intended to take his head off in one stroke."

"Then he opened his eyes and looked at me."

"There I stood trembling, The Demon of the Mist, afraid like a child. I panicked and made a wild swing for his head. Years and years of swordplay going out the window as I swung wide like an amateur. He dodged the blade and I ran. I'm not sure if he even followed me, but I ran until I couldn't run anymore."

"Haku, to face someone like that, you can't have a shred of weakness or emotion. I had a chance to end his reign over the bloody mist, but I let myself get scared like a foolish child. When I … when we face him in the future, we both must be true shinobi. When we face those leaf ninja tomorrow, I need you to setup and show me that you can be that true shinobi… otherwise you'll be of no use to me" Zabuza finished.

Haku bowed her head, "Yes Master Zabuza, I won't fail you again".

* * *

Extra:

 _During the 3_ _rd_ _ninja war_

Zakaza walked up behind his master. He stood there tentatively waiting for his master to beckon him forward. The master was standing out on a mountain ledge looking at the surrounding valleys, deep in thought.

Zakaza was surprised he and the master were there at all. The master had the appearance of a frail old man. His arms were bony, skin pale, and white hair tied back in a long braid. They had started their mountain trek some weeks ago. The master had lead him to the northern part of the Land of Earth. It was easy to pass through with most of the ninja preoccupied with the war.

There, they had started climbing into uncharted territory. At first, Zakaza didn't have any problems. He was in late teens and in fairly good shape. Once they had been hiking and climbing over a week, he finally started to feel fatigued and had to humbly ask the master for a day of rest. After some time of reprieve, the master picked the highest peak they could see in the mountain range as their final destination. After some precarious climbing, the master finally stopped on the highest mountain ledge of the peak to survey the area for some time.

Finally, the master beckoned Zakaza forward with a wave of his hand. Walking up beside him, Zakaza wondered what his master was looking for.

"Child, what shall we call this place?" The master spoke.

"Apologies my lord, but I'm not sure. What exactly is this place?" Zakaza responded.

"Why child, this is where we will build my empire" the master motioned around with his hands. "This mountain will be hollowed out and serve as our base".

"But my lord, this mountain is … well huge! Isn't that impossible?"

The old man smiled and patted his student on the shoulder, "Child, I assure you that you'll see much greater things than carving out some mountain in your lifetime. The world may not know this place now but one day, this place… this moment… will be written in the history books as the place and day that I once again started my journey to become the God of Gods"

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Question:**

 **Cursed seal mark level 2 Sasuke's weird hand-wing gets into a thumb war with Sora's weird beast hand. Who wins? Do we all lose because that would be disgusting?**

 **Cheers!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Boom!**

That night, Team 7 listened silently as Pakkun finished recounting what he had heard outside the cabin.

"… And that's all I heard Kakashi. It looks like you all have a fight on your hands tomorrow. Now I better be getting back, it's been a long day out there", the pug put up a paw to wave, "Peace!" With a puff of smoke the little dog disappeared.

Kakashi was the first one to speak up to his students, "well Sakura, it turns out I owe you an apology. I didn't think tracking Haku in the woods would lead to anything valuable but-"

"I don't believe it!" Naruto shouted, cutting Kakashi off.

"Naruto it's not that simple-"

"No Kakashi-sensei! There must be more to the story. The girl I met in the woods would never work for a guy like Zabuza. He must be threating her or holding her hostage or… or… something! We need to head over there and rescue her from him!"

Kakashi sighed letting silence hang in the air for a moment. "Naruto, the ninja world is complicated. Our trade is based on lying and deception as much as it is our physical ninja skills. It's unfortunate that you have been misled by her but you should consider yourself lucky. Many ninja who are deceived end up paying for it with their lives."

Sakura spoke up while bouncing nervously on her heels. "So Sensei, does that mean we have to fight that Zabuza guy tomorrow?"

All the Genin looked at their instructor.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Well if we don't intervene, then Zabuza will kill Tazuna. We could tell Tazuna to run, but that would only prolong the inevitable."

"I want to fight" spoke up Sasuke.

Everyone turned and looked at Sasuke.

"The girl, I want to fight her", Sasuke's hand started trembling with anticipation. "She seems skilled. I need to test myself against her." He looked at Kakashi, "I'll take care of her while you fight Zabuza."

"If Sasuke wants to fight, then I'll be there as well" said Sakura while looking at Sasuke.

Naruto looked downcast. "I… I can't believe that Haku is bad person." He closed his fist and gritted his teeth "but I want to be there too. I'll knock some sense into her if that's what it takes!"

"Woah calm down you three" Kakashi spoke. "Hopefully we won't be in a fight at all. In a battle, intel is by far the most dangerous weapon".

"Huh, since when did you get all philosophical? You certainly didn't read that in that smut you carry around" Sakura muttered.

"I'm hurt that one of my cute little Genin would say something so hurtful to their Sensei who has done so much for them."

"Whatever, what's the plan then?" responded Sakura.

"Well since we know where they will be going tomorrow, we can lay a trap for them. It would at least give us an initial advantage in the fight." Kakashi turned towards Naruto, "Naruto, I want you to scatter some clones throughout the forest on the other side of the bridge tomorrow morning. When one of them spots Zabuza and Haku, it'll be able to pass on the knowledge to you, that way we'll know when they're coming."

He turned towards his other two students, "Should Zabuza and Haku get by the trap we set, then Sasuke will fight Haku and Sakura will fight Zabuza."

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" screamed Sakura with a high pitch shrill.

Kakashi eye smiled, "Hn, maybe now you'll think twice before you call your dear Sensei's literature smut."

* * *

 _The next morning_

Haku leapt from branch to branch following Zabuza. She was grateful that she was wearing a mask, if anything to hide her apprehensions from him. At the end of the day she knew she'd have to kill at least one (if not more) of the leaf Genin. The mere thought of that made her heart tighten due to her passive nature.

But that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was proving herself to the man that had saved her. She would get over her drawbacks and become the tool her needed her to be.

Haku was pulled out of her thoughts when Zabuza came to a sudden stop. He held up his hand signaling her to stop as well. She stopped, perched on a branch a few feet away from him.

He made a motion pointing at his eyes and then pointing down to the forest floor. There, behind a bush was Naruto trying (but failing in the worse way) to hide, orange jacket and all. He wasn't looking at them, rather it appeared that he was looking around at the bushes around him.

Haku watched as Zabuza silently descended from branch to branch towards the forest floor, staying out of view of the boy below. It was times like these that Haku was reminded that her master was one of the best assassins living today.

Zabuza dropped in behind the boy and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. With a yell, Naruto started struggling and cursing, his legs dangling off the ground.

"Well, well, look what I've caught? A snot nosed brat. Didn't Kakashi ever teach you not to go out walking alone? I thought he'd be smarter than that. You never know what sort of dangers you might run into."

"Says you! The last time I saw you, you had just got bitch slapped by my Sensei water jutsu and had to be rescued by Haku!" retorted Naruto.

Haku's heart skipped a beat _. 'How does he know!'_

Zabuza scowled. "How do you know that?"

Naruto smiled, "Doesn't matter, we'll see you around!" Then the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Zabuza stared at his empty hand for a few seconds before ascending back up into the trees. He jumped up onto the branch next to Haku in a crouching position. He slowly stood up, standing ominously over her. "What the hell was that?!"

"Master I-"

"How in the hell does that brat know who you are?! Did you tell him in the woods while you were collecting herbs?!"

"No! I swear I revealed nothing! I don't know how he knows!"

Zabuza closed his eyes and let out low growl. "Damn that Kakashi. Well it doesn't matter now, they know we are coming. Let's not keep them waiting"

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke were busy getting some traps into place at the end of the bridge.

' _Yes I finally get to spend some alone time with Sasuke!'_

' _ **Ya suck it Ino-pig!'**_

Sakura made a sideways glance at her crush. He was hiding some kunai behind a bridge support beam, readying them to be launched with a taunt string. She reached into her pouch and grabbed a handful of kunai and walked over to him.

"Hey Sasuke, I have some more kunai we could use!"

"Hn, sure" he responded without looking at her.

She started to slide more kunai onto the trap string, getting as close to him as possible. "I hope this trap works out well. Are you nervous if we're going to have to fight them or not?"

"No" he responded.

"I didn't think you would be. You're strong enough that-"

She was cut off as he reached his hand over and placed it on hers. A fierce blush painted her cheeks. _'This is it! This is moment that I've been waiting for when we-'_

"You're doing it wrong."

"W-what?"

"The kunai. You need to space them out differently on the string." He moved her hand so the kunai she was holding slide further out on the string. "You're keeping the exact same distance between each kunai on the string. That will create predictable gaps when the trap throws them. Make sure the space between each kunai is different so the enemy will have a harder time dodging." With that he let go of her hand and went back to focusing on his part of the trap.

Sakura looked downcast as she heard inner Sakura shout in her brain _**'DAMN!'**_

* * *

Naruto stopped as a thought popped into his head.

"Kakashi-sensei! He just found one of my clones. They are coming!"

Kakashi finished tying a taunt string to a nearby crate on the middle of the unfinished bridge. He quickly stood and looked at the end of the bridge towards his other students who were busy finishing their part of the trap. "Hey you two, hurry and finish what you're doing and get back over here by me and Naruto."

After a few more last minute knots and covering some string, Sasuke and Sakura made their way to towards the middle of the bridge where Kakashi and Naruto were stationed.

"I want you three to stay behind me and let me do the talking." Kakashi looked at Naruto. "That especially means you Naruto."

"What?"

"You know what."

"But I-"

"Like to shout stuff before thinking it through?"

"No! I wasn't planning on saying anything!" shouted Naruto.

"Hn, like you could plan anything" remarked Sasuke.

"Hey! You watch it or I'll put my foot in your ass! Believe-"

"ANYWAYS!" cut in Kakashi. "I want you three to follow my lead. Now just stand there and wait. This might be a good chance to make sure your gear is ready." Kakashi turned and watched the tree line. "Oh and my last bit of advice in case we have to fight, teamwork will always be your greatest tool in a battle. Look out for each other and take care of each other."

Sakura thought for a moment. "But Sensei, I thought you said intel was a ninja's most dangerous weapon in battle?"

Kakashi sighed.

Minutes seem to pass by like hours as Team 7 awaited for the approaching enemy.

Finally, two figures broke the tree line and approached the end of the bridge where they stopped. Zabuza stood there at the end of the bridge, the large seversword in hand. Next to him stood Haku, wearing a green haori with a brown sash, face hidden by her hunter-nin mask.

Kakashi raised his hand. "Yo Zabuza I-"

He was cut off as Naruto stepped forward and pointed a finger at Haku "HEY! What the heck do you think you're doing?! Why are you hanging out with him?!" Naruto glared at Zabuza. "He's the bad guy don't you know?!" Haku visibly winced at the last statement.

Kakashi shook his head _'figures'_. "Zabuza, there's no need for us to fight. Go on your way and leave Tazuna alone."

Zabuza chuckled, "You know that can't happen. I need this money to help fund a revolt against the current Kiri leadership." He pointed his sword at Kakashi. "and if I get to collect the bounty on the Copy-nin's head… well all the better."

"Fine" Kakashi sighed. With that Kakashi drew and flicked a kunai to his side. The kunai cut through a string.

A sling shot "thwap" was heard as kunai rained down all around the missing-nin from all sides. Instantly, both missing-nin ran through a series of the exact same hand signs and stretched out an arm towards one another.

"Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu!" both shouted simultaneously.

Water raised through the cracks in the bridge and converged as both ninja became trapped in each other's water prison. The two spheres were imperfect, since they slightly connected to one another on the edge where the two ninja's arms stretched towards one another.

Kunai slapped into the surface of the water and almost instantly came to a stop. The density of the water prison was high enough that no kunai could pass through. After a few seconds of flying weapons and ricochets, everything seemed to calm down. The two bubbles of water holding the two ninja had kunai floating all around.

Kakashi's eyebrows raised. "Huh, well that was unexpected."

The two missing-nin lowered their hands and the water prisons fell apart around them. With multiple "clangs", the floating kunai hit the floor.

With a chuckle Zabuza stepped forward "Really? We found the boy's clone in the forest. We had a pretty good guess that you all would have something set up for us."

Kakashi eye smiled "say Zabuza, have you ever heard of the phrase 'look beneath the beneath'? "

Zabuza stopped and raised an eyebrow "ya… why…?"

Kakashi threw up a hand sign.

Zabuza heard a fizzle and looked down to see some burning explosive tags in-between the wood planks of the bridge.

"Well Fuc-"

Boom.

* * *

Extra:

 _Shortly after the 3_ _rd_ _ninja war_

Zakaza dipped his pen in ink and continued to write as his Master talked.

"… we extend a hand of fellowship to your village's circumstances. We understand that many are in need of charity during this time of pain and woe in the world. In an effort to heal the wounds that have been inflicted on the minor nations, we humble offer to take on any orphans from your village that have resulted from the terrible ninja war. We have the facilities and compassionate populace to give them the love and attention they so desperately need in their lives right now."

Zakaza stopped writing. "Master, it might not be my place to ask, but why are we recruiting orphans? Don't you think the villages will be a little skeptic about sending children off to some strangers in an unknown place?"

"Perhaps if it was one of the 5 main villages yes", the Master responded, "But the minor villages? No. They don't have the resources to take on all the orphans left over from the war. Most likely if we let things continue as they are, a lot of the children will end up dying of sickness or starvation. The minor villages will see our letter as the perfect out and will justify in their own minds that it's ok to send their problem children away."

The Master turned and looked at Zakaza "there's a lesson to be learned. Humans are selfless only when it's convenient. When times are tough, humans almost always become selfish. Exploit people when the times are tough in a way that allows them to be selfish, and you'll always succeed."

"Ok but still, what use will we have of children?" inquired Zakaza.

"Oh Zakaza. You need to see past the here and now. Right now they are weak children. Children that need love, shelter, food, and the basic necessities of life. We fill that gap and we win their loyalty for life."

The Master smiled "The greatest motivator for the human soul is love. Many ninja employed by their villages are loyal because they were born there and they get paid to do their job. That type of loyalty is frail, which is why there are a significant number of missing-nin in the world. These children we take in will be loyal to us because we were there to provide for and nurture them when they needed it most. They will be loyal because they want to be loyal, not because of money or some misplaced sense of self identity with where they were born."

"I will use that loyalty to produce the most dangerous ninja army the nations have ever seen or will ever see. But first, we need those children." The master motioned towards Zakaza's pen. "Now let's resume writing.

Zakaza dipped his pen and continued to write.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **A question was raised in the reviews regarding the planned pairings. Most (but not all) of the pairings will be different than the original story. For now, I want to keep some of the pairings a secret till later on in the story. Here is what I will tell you though:**

 **1- There will be no harems. This doesn't stop a character from hooking up with someone and then ending up with someone else later on in the story. That happens all the time in real life. I'm just saying that a character will not be in multiple accepted romantic relationships at the same time.**

 **2- Sakura will not be paired with Naruto or Sasuke.**

 **3- Naruto will not be paired with Hinata.**

 **4- No Yaoi will be in this story.**

 **5- You can see from the story description that I marked "Ino" as one of the main characters. She will start playing a role in this story later on, once the characters return to Konoha. Time will tell who she ends up being paired with; whether it be Sasuke, Naruto, or someone else.**

 **Question:**

 **This question comes inspired from our favorite character who has that no quit attitude. Who wins in a fight, Bruce Lee or The Rock?**


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4: Uninvited Guests**

Naruto had to shield his eyes from the pressure wave that came off the explosion. All around projectiles of wood and building tools rained down.

It took a moment for Naruto to gather his senses. The blast caused a faint ringing in his ears and left him unsteady as the unfinished bridge swayed. Eventually, Naruto put his arm down and unshielded his eyes so he could survey the scene.

A light breeze slowly blew the smoke away revealing a burnt gaping hole in the bridge. Nothing was left of the two former Kiri-nin.

It was a lot to take in. One moment he was getting pissed at Haku and then she was gone.

She was gone.

Gone.

Dead.

Naruto closed his eyes as they started to get watery. He turned towards Kakashi who was also surveying the scene. "Why did you kill her?" he whispered. Then he clenched his fists and looked his teacher in the eye while raising his voice, "She was just a kid like us! Zabuza was the bad guy, not her! I could have helped her if you had just given me a chance!"

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, I had a choice between taking them out with a trap or fighting them head on. I'm not willing to put your lives at risk when there was a safer alternative. That's why I went and rigged those explosives last night while you all were sleeping." Kakashi had a faraway look in his eyes "Believe me Naruto, killing doesn't bring me any joy. Unfortunately, ninja have to make these difficult choices every time they take a mission."

Naruto's demeanor softened. "Is that what being a ninja means? Killing to keep themselves safe when there are other options?"

"That's an over simplification" responded Kakashi.

Sakura came forward and placed and hand on Naruto's shoulder sympathetically. "Naruto, I know this is tough, but think about it. How well did you actually know Haku? I don't think your short conversation in the woods was enough for you to make the call whether she was a good person or not."

Naruto shrugged off Sakura's hand. "I don't care if we didn't talk a lot. She was nice to me when she didn't have to be." He looked around the group. "Do you realize that I can count on one hand the number of people in my life that are nice to me? The entire village hates me for…. for something I can't control." He glanced at his two teammates. "Not even my own team treats me as an equal."

Silence fell on the team as Naruto quit talking. Looking around, Naruto was shocked to see Sasuke staring at him. Apparently the Uchiha had been paying full attention to him rather than acting as his usual standoffish self.

Sakura rubbed her arm while staring at the ground in guilt. She had never heard Naruto talk to her like that before. "Naruto I-"

Suddenly the group's ears perked up as they heard a slow clapping across the bridge.

Standing there was the Demon of the Mist and Haku. Naruto's heart skipped a beat seeing that Haku was alive.

Zabuza stopped clapping. "Nice speech there kid. Just goes to show that you might be the worse ninja in all of the 5 great nations." He looked at Kakashi. "Nice trick there with the tags. I didn't expect you to plant explosives and risk bringing down the bridge. Too bad you just blew up a couple of water clones." He reached behind his back and drew the massive Seversword. "You'll find that the real Demon of the Mist is much harder to kill."

Kakashi quickly drew a kunai and lifted up his headband to reveal his Sharingan. "I was wondering why I didn't see any remains of a body."

Zabuza turned towards Haku "you go take out the brats. I'll take out Kakashi".

Haku gave a head nod while drawing out a Senbon in her hand "yes Master Zabuza."

Naruto felt weighed down by the intensity in the air. Zabuza's killer intent seemed overwhelming yet it was matched by his sensei's determination. ' _Stop being a coward'_ he told himself. He gritted his teeth and yelled at Haku "I'm not giving up on you Haku. I'm going to help you come to your senses even if I have to beat it out of y-"

Naruto was cut off as an image popped into his brain.

He quickly turned towards his teacher "Kakashi, there are other ninja coming! They are wearing masks like Haku."

Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows. "what are you talking about Naruto?"

"In the woods, I still have some clones in the woods! One of them was just destroyed as he saw a group of ninja coming towards us. The one that destroyed him was wearing a mask with black tear drops!"

Zabuza's eye's went wide, "what the hell did you just say kid?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, "well Zabuza looks like you have an appointment with some former comrades of yours."

Just then a group of ninja jumped in from the tree line. 5 Ninja wearing Hunter-nin masks of different colors. The leader, wearing a mask with black tear drops, was holding a less than thrilled Gato under his arm.

"There! He's there just like I told you! Now put me down, I don't want any part of this!" Gato screamed.

Without a word the Hunter-nin put a hand on top of his head and started to twist his head around slowly. Gato reached up and tried tugging at the Hunter-nin's hand but it was in vain. He started to scream when he felt his head twist past it's maximum flexibility range. Eventually, the screaming stopped when a sicking crack echoed from Gato's neck. The Hunter-nin dropped the lifeless body.

"Zabuza Momochi, in the name of Lord Yagura, we are here to bring you back to Kiri dead or alive. You are a traitor that holds onto one of the symbols of strength for Kiri. You'll be giving that blade back to us."

Zabuza raised his blade towards the group "I dare you to try and take it".

The leader turned towards Team 7. "Leaf ninja, this has nothing to do with you. Leave now or risk being caught in the battle."

Kakashi nodded his head. "Thank you Hunter-nin." He turned towards his students. "Let's go".

"But what about Haku?" Naruto pleaded.

"Naruto! Now is not the time." Kakashi responded sharply.

Naruto, sensing the gravity of the situation decided to keep quiet. Kakashi motioned with his hand for the group to return to the other side of the bridge and head towards Tazuna's house.

They made it a few steps before they heard another voice behind them. "Black, that leaf-nin is Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan. Also, one of those kids is an Uchiha."

Team 7 turned and looked at the group of Hunter-nin. The Hunter-nin's leader looked at his companion wearing the mask with the blue marking, "are you sure Blue?"

The ninja nodded. "That kid definitely has the chakra signature of an Uchiha."

Black (the leader) was silent for a few minutes before turning back to Kakashi. "Kakashi Hatake, you and your students will also accompany us back to Kiri for questioning relating to your relationship with Zabuza".

Kakashi glared, "you know I can't do that. You can clearly see we were gearing up for a fight with him. We have not aided him in any way."

Black spoke again "if you do not come willingly then we will take you back by force. Don't make this messier for you and your kids than it has to be."

"You won't be laying a finger on my team." Kakashi responded.

Sakura spoke up, frightened "Sensei, shouldn't we just go with them and clear our name with Kiri? We can tell them we had nothing to do with Zabuza."

"Sakura, they are planning on taking us prisoner to Kiri. They'll most likely use me and Sasuke for the Sharingan. You and Naruto will be killed." He turned and looked at a shocked Sakura. "So, no, we won't be going with them willingly."

"But I don't have the Sharingan yet" spoke Sasuke.

"Maybe not, but you have the genetics for it. You're actually more valuable to them than me." Kakashi turned back to continue addressing the Hunter-nin group. "You know that this will incite a war between our villages right? Does your Mizukage really want that?"

"We are detaining you on suspicion that you have somehow aided the Missing-nin known as Zabuza Momochi" Black answered. "What your village chooses to do after is the business of your village, but we doubt that your Hokage would foolish enough to challenge Lord Yagura."

"For fucks sake, will you stop? Obviously Hatake isn't buying what you're selling" Zabuza spoke up. He turned back towards Team 7, "hey Kakashi, now I got a phrase for you. You ever heard that the enemy of my enemy is my friend? The best chance we have of making it out alive is to work together. Considering that Gato is now dead, my quarrel with you is over."

Kakashi nodded "right".

Black turned to his team. "We'll need to split up and fight them. Two for Momochi, two for Hatake, and one for the brats."

"I'll take the kids", Blue spoke up. "They are the most likely to scatter. I'll be able to track them with my sensory."

"Right" Black responded. "Purple and Orange, you'll take on Kakashi. Green and I will take on Momochi."

The Hunter-nin group nodded and responded together, "affirmative!"

Naruto followed the rest of Team 7 as they walked up next to Zabuza and Haku.

"Anything we should know about these guys?" spoke up Kakashi.

"Don't take them lightly" responded Zabuza. "These guys are the personal Hunter squad for Yagura. Usually, new members of the Seven Swordsmen are selected from this group. I once wore that mask with the black markings years ago."

A silent dread welled up in Kakashi's chest. He wasn't concerned for himself, he had long ago come to peace with the fact that he could die at any given time. No, he was actually concerned for his students. He was a fool for not abandoning this mission early on when it became apparent that it was an A-ranked mission. Kakashi looked at his students with a serious expression. "You three need to listen to me closely. You cannot run and scatter. If you do, that Blue ninja will be able to hunt you down and kill you one by one. You don't have to win, just hold him off until I can get to you. Sasuke, you'll lead the group."

Sasuke nodded his head.

Zabuza turned towards Haku. "Work with these other brats. If it comes to saving them or yourself, save yourself. Now Kakashi if you're ready, I'm done talking".

With a short nod, Kakashi leapt with Zabuza towards the Hunter-nin and engaged them in battle.

Blue made his way around and came forward to confront the group of teenagers.

Naruto looked around. Sakura looked terrified, Sasuke looked on edge, and he couldn't see Haku's face. He himself felt scared but he wouldn't let this guy hurt his friends.

Haku spoke to the group. "My Kekkei Genkai creates a dome on the battle field. Keep him inside the dome and we'll have the advantage." Haku wove some hand signs, "Hijutsu: Makyo Hyosho!"

Large square ice mirrors formed a dome on the battlefield around the combatants. Haku touched one of the mirrors and reality seemed to bend as she merged with the ice, casting her reflection on each of the other mirrors.

"Naruto, create a barrier to keep him in" commanded Sasuke.

"Keep him inside the dome, right!" Naruto crossed his fingers, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A ring of about 50 Naruto clones formed around the inside perimeter of the dome.

Sasuke turn to Sakura, "Stay back and let me and the Dobe handle this." Sakura nodded and took a step back.

The Blue Hunter-nin shook his head. "It would have been easier if you kids had just run."

Sasuke smiled as he drew a kunai and ran towards the Hunter-nin.

* * *

Kakashi flipped backwards to create some space between himself and the two Hunter-nin he was facing off with. Fighting two elite opponents up close was difficult, even with the Sharingan. _'I need to get these two separated and take one out.'_ He eyed the trees. _'Maybe I can separate them in there?'_

Purple wove some hand signs, "Suiton: Minakami Suki no Jutsu!" Water crept up and flooded the area on land a few inches high.

The first thing Kakashi noticed was that he was unable to use his chakra to stand on top of the water. Whenever he tried, the water seemed to cave in its surface so he broke through. What's more, the water meniscus seem to be clinging to his feet. Shifting his foot, he could tell a difference that it took more effort to move around in this water.

The opposite was happening with Purple. He was standing on top of the water but it seemed that the water meniscus was gathered underneath his feet to support him.

It didn't take Kakashi long to find out what that meant. Purple dashed forward on the top of the water with a speed that the Copy-nin wasn't expecting. Anyone else wouldn't have noticed it, but Kakashi's Sharingan could see that the water meniscus seemed to move with the ninja and slightly lurch to propel him forward.

The Hunter-nin threw a haymaker punch at his increased speed. Kakashi tried to jump back to avoid it but found that the water's grip on his feet caused him to jump short. Kakashi threw up his arms as a guard and was rocked by the blow with an audible "Thud". The force propelled him back further.

' _So contact with the water slows me down, and speeds him up eh? I could copy his hand signs but I better be careful of my chakra reserves. If I copy every jutsu these two throw at me, then I'm likely to burn out before them. I'll have to improvise.'_

Purple came in again with a spinning kick. Rather than using his legs to dodge, Kakashi leaned back and let the blow fly over him. Purple's increased momentum caused him to skid for a bit on the water's surface. Again, Purple turned around and tried to rush the Copy-nin with a punch. At the last moment before contact, Kakashi crouched down and used a hand to deflect the Hunter-nin's punch up so that again he would miss and overshoot his target.

Seeing that a rush wouldn't work, Purple came in slower to engage Kakashi in a battle of Taijutsu. Kakashi's Sharingan blazed during the hand-to-hand combat. True, Kakashi was somewhat limited with the use of his feet, however his superior ability to react with the Sharingan gave him an advantage. He countered every blow the Hunter-nin threw at him. After a few combinations, Kakashi countered with an uppercut that sent Purple flying.

Purple rolled on the water's surface before coming up in a crouching position. "Hey Orange! Are you just going to stand there or are you going to help me out?" sounded the man.

"Ya, Ya" responded the feminine voice beneath the Orange marked mask. After weaving some hand signs she slammed her hands down on the water surface, "Suiton: Arubatorosu no Jutsu!" Around her three blobs of water rose and started to take shape. The blobs of water morphed into large Albatross birds, standing at about the height of the Hunter-nin herself. She pointed at Kakashi, and the large birds made of water took flight, flying towards him at remarkable speed.

Kakashi drew a handful of shuriken from his weapons pouch and threw them at the birds, attempting to damage them so they'd lose their shape and disappear. Surprisingly, the shuriken passed right through them and they continued their flight path towards the Copy-nin.

The birds were large enough that Kakashi knew he wouldn't be able to avoid them unless he moved his legs. Feeling slow from the resistance of the water, the leaf-nin barely managed to hop out of the way as the first two birds slammed into the ground in a suicide dive to the spot where he was just standing. They burst with an explosion of water.

Unfortunately, he was not fast enough to dodge the third bird as it dive bombed him. Knowing impact was inevitable, Kakashi braced himself. The bird slammed into him and burst on impact. Kakashi felt the wind get knocked out of him as he was sent tumbling.

Pushing himself up out of the shallow water, he forced himself to take a deep breath to regain his breathing pattern while on his hands and knees. Looking down in the water, his Sharingan barely noticed the faint ripples of someone incoming. Just in time, he ducked his head down as Purple sped by with a kunai in hand attempting to take his head off.

Quickly, Kakashi stood up and grabbed a kunai for each of his hands as he regained his fighting composure.

"Damn!" Purple said as he turned to face his target. "Almost had you! Hey Orange, are those birds ready yet?"

Kakashi turned his head slightly so he could see what was going on out of the corner of his eyes. There to the side of him, 3 blobs of water were rising and taking shape again into the Albatross birds from the spots they had dive bombed earlier.

' _I HAVE TO GET TO THE TREES!_ He thought while looking at the forest behind the Orange Hunter-nin _. But there is no way I can turn my back and try to outrun the birds and the Purple Hunter-nin.'_ Looking down at his kunai, an idea struck him.

Reaching back into his pouch, he withdrew a handful of smoke bombs and threw them to the ground as the 3 water birds took flight again.

Purple stood off to the side observing the scene. "Orange, keep those birds circling above the smoke. He's not going anywhere. Once the smoke clears we have him."

Suddenly, a handful of scattered Kunai launched out of the smoke, some heading towards Orange. "Shit!" Orange yelled as she dodge to the side. All the kunai missed and stuck to the ground blade first, with their handles poking up out of the shallow water.

The smoke parted as Kakashi darted from his cover towards the trees much faster than he should have been able to with the water slowing him down. Purple set off in pursuit, bewildered at the turn of events.

Looking at the Leaf-nin's feet, Purple quickly understood what was happening. Kakashi was running using the kunai handles as steps to stay above the water surface. It didn't matter though. Even without the water resistance, Purple was still faster while running on this water than the leaf-nin was while running on kunai.

Kakashi looked over his shoulder and saw Purple approaching to his left. The leaf-nin did a quick 360 turn in the air in between steps and threw two kunai, one to the far left and one to the far right of Purple. Normally, this would have done nothing… except the kunai had a very thin wire attached between them.

Both hit and stuck to the ground right as Purple's shin hit the wire. Running into the wire with this increased momentum not only tripped Purple, but caused the wire to cut through the flesh of his shin. As the Hunter-nin lurched forward, the wire ran down his shin, scraping against bone. When the Hunter-nin finally fell over, a sizeable chunk of skin and meat was sliced off the front of his leg revealing the bone beneath. He screamed as Kakashi disappeared into the woods with Orange and her birds in hot pursuit.

* * *

Metal clanged as Zabuza parried with Black. At the start of the fight, Black had summoned two Ninjato blades and came in like a whirlwind. Black could certainly move his blades faster than Zabuza could swing Kubikiribocho. Zabuza's main advantage was the protection the large blade provided him. Getting one of the Ninjato blades past Kubikiribocho's large girth was a daunting task.

The puzzling thing was that the other Hunter-nin, Green, was just standing off to the side with her arms crossed. So far she had stayed out of the fight.

Both men clashed their blades together and skidded back from the impact. Zabuza was the first to speak to Black. "What's going on with your friend over there? Is she waiting for me to drop my guard?"

Black shook his head as his voice sounded under the mask, "no she won't be interfering unless absolutely necessary. I want to kill you on my own. If I do that, then Lord Yagura is sure to make me one of the wielders of the Seven Swords. Kubikiribocho isn't my favorite blade of the lot, but hey, I'll take it."

"You're a fool, The Seven Swordsmen don't exist anymore thanks to that traitor Yagura" responded Zabuza. "Most of the blades are lost. Any living member of the Swordsmen has left the village."

"You mean betrayed the village" Black accused.

"No, we didn't betray the village, the village betrayed us! You can work for a monster that has massacred his own people, yet you dare call me the traitor? The Seven Swordsmen were a murderous, lying, brutal team of ninja… and yet, even we were sensible enough to leave Kiri once that turtle bastard started killing his own people. Our village has weakened beyond repair from losing nearly all of our powerful bloodlines."

Black shook his head again. "You're wrong. The village has weakened because it lost one of its symbols of strength once the Seven Swordsmen abandoned us. The Mizukage has only attacked his enemies. I intend to honor his wishes and reestablish the Seven Swordsmen under his leadership. I'll bring back the Seven blades."

"Holding one of the Seven blades doesn't make you one of the Seven Swordsmen", retorted Zabuza.

"No, but killing you does", responded Black.

"Oh ho! I like you! You might actually last longer than a minute." Zabuza smiled under the cloth covering his face. "Please don't disappoint me!" He stuck Kubikiribocho into the ground and put a hand up in the air pointing his fingers. "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

Thick mist rolled in and covered their battlefield.

Zabuza closed his eyes and composed himself. He started to take slow breaths, inhaling and exhaling with both his mouth and nose. He reached out and slowly grasped the handle of his large blade and gently drew it out of the dirt. He took a few soft steps to the side to get out of his original position and then he waited.

Zabuza strained his ears listening for his opponent. He was sure that he would win this battle of cat and mouse in the mist. Zabuza was built for stealth and being able to move without being heard. One of the reasons he sometimes choose not to wear a shirt or flak jacket was to avoid unnecessary noise of clothing rubbing on his skin. On days like today when he did wear a shirt, he made sure the cloth was soft material like his pants to avoid any rustling. He didn't carry a weapons pouch, but did have a few tools stored in different pockets. Every tool he carried had to be in its own pocket. Tools stored together would rattle or bang together as the user moved, which would be a dead giveaway in a battle of stealth.

Zabuza honed in on his prey when he heard Black exhale too loud. Zabuza carefully took steps in that general direction. As he would step, he would lead with his toe and subconsciously feel what he was about to step on. If his toe felt something like a twig or branch, he would move his foot in the air and step elsewhere.

The snap of a twig could always be the difference between life and death for him.

Zabuza stopped and listened again. Being the leader of a Hunter-nin group, it was obvious to Zabuza that Black had some stealth training of his own. Thus far the Hunter-nin had only slipped up once when he exhaled too loud.

Oddly, Zabuza suddenly heard some heavy footsteps to his left in the mist. _'He's baiting me'_ , Zabuza thought to himself smiling. _'Most likely he is using a water clone for bait. He would expect me to come up and attack the clone from behind. He himself would be behind the clone a fair distance and would attack me once I sliced his clone'._

Zabuza continued to listen to the footsteps until he got an idea of which direction the steps were walking. Given that his opponent was also highly trained in stealth, Zabuza thought it prudent to attack from a distance. _'Let's see if I'm right'_ , he thought while slowly drawing a kunai from a pocket. _'Now if I was him, how far back would I hide behind my clone?'_ Zabuza continued to listen and judge what he thought would be the right distance behind the walking noise. Deciding to act, he softly lobbed the kunai in that direction. The sound of blade cutting cloth sounded through the mist.

Bingo.

Zabuza rushed towards the spot and swung his giant blade. A Sharp "clang!" sounded through the mist as his blade connected with what must have been one of Black's Ninjato swords. He heard Black jump back a few steps and then silence. Zabuza himself moved to reposition himself and resumed the cat and mouse game.

Zabuza felt something drip on his hand. Reaching a hand out, he felt his sword and ran his fingers through some warm, soft liquid. Blood. ' _Looks like he didn't totally block my blade'_.

Zabuza perked up as he heard his opponent talk through the mist, "Enough of this game. Raiton: Shogeki Motomeru no Jutsu!"

' _The idiot'_ , Zabuza thought to himself. _'He can't see me so why would he try Ninjut-'_

Suddenly, Zabuza saw the water particles in the air light up bright right before he felt himself get hit in the chest with an electric blast. Caught unprepared, he yelled as he was sent tumbling. Quickly realizing he gave his position away, he launched himself from that spot. It was good thinking to, for right as he moved, he heard the sound of blade slashing into the ground where he just was.

Zabuza cringed as he reached up and felt his chest. There was some burnt skin from where the lightning attack had struck him. _'How the hell did he hit me! There's no way he knew where I was, I didn't make a sound!'_

Zabuza heard the voice again, "Raiton: Shogeki Motomeru no Jutsu!"

' _I'll move this time!'_ Zabuza started to lightly jump from spot to spot in the mist. He saw the water particles light up again through the mist, but it appeared to be bending around towards him. It was following him! Zabuza again tried to dodge but couldn't move fast enough while still maintaining his stealth. He felt the lightning blast him in the back as he tried to flee. He grunted as he again went tumbling. He tried once again to quickly get up and move but he was a bit slower from being injured. He heard the sword coming and tried to block the best he could with his blade. He did manage to block one of Black's Ninjatos, but felt the other one cut a deep gash in his right forearm. With a grunt of pain, he jumped back away from his opponent, once again obscuring himself in the mist.

It was obvious to Zabuza that his opponent now had the advantage in the mist. Begrudgingly, Zabuza lifted his arm and dispelled his hidden mist jutsu.

As the mist cleared, he saw Black's figure appear. Black was weaving handsigns and shouted "Raiton: Shogeki Motomeru no Jutsu!"

Zabuza watched as Black's body started glowing. The lightning shot up out of his body into the fading mist. The lightning illuminated a section of the water particles in the air and then started traveling towards Zabuza. Upon closer examination, Zabuza noticed that a mini cloud of lightning bolts was jumping from water droplet to water droplet through the air. Zabuza once again braced himself for impact but was surprised when he watched the lightning attack fade before getting to him.

"Damn, I was too slow" spoke Black, now fully visible with the mist all cleared. "'Shock Seeking Jutsu' is an attack I would usually use on water. The lightning travels through open or shallow water and seeks the opponent as a target. I knew you would win if I tried to beat you with stealth once you slashed me when my water clone distraction failed." He pointed his thumb towards his chest so that Zabuza could see a narrow cut across his chest through the flak jacket. "I didn't know if the jutsu would work by using the water particles in the air as conduit. Looks like I was in luck though."

"So that's why your last attack failed", responded Zabuza. "With the mist clearing, your lightning jutsu lost the conduit it used to seek out its target."

"Looks like it", Black drew his blades again, "but it doesn't matter, it looks like I have the advantage now Momochi. You took quite a bit of damage."

Zabuza looked down at his chest. It was indeed burnt, with some of the flesh peeling away from where the lightning jutsu had hit him. He figured his back would look similar. It also didn't help that it hurt to grip his blade with his right hand due to the deep cut on his forearm from Black's Ninjato blade.

"You failed Momochi. You didn't kill Lord Yagura. You didn't kill the bridge builder. You lost to some leaf-nin and his genin brats." Black got into his fighting stance while gripping his blades, "and now you'll die by my hand."

The air seemed to run cold as killer intent flowed off of Zabuza as his eyes darkened. After a moment or so, Zabuza responded, his voice much deeper than before. "You think you have the advantage huh? You know who else thought they had the advantage over me? An entire class of academy students when I was just a child who had never held a blade."

Air rushed around as Black was slightly taken aback. Purple aura seemed to envelope Zabuza. Black's eyes went wide behind his mask as the aura took the shape of a large purple demon, towering over the area with its grandeur. It's eyes stared down hungrily at the Hunter-nin.

Zabuza lifted his blade at the ready and looked at Black with bloodshot eyes, an animal like ferocity seemed to take over his persona. "I THINK IT'S ABOUT TIME I REMIND YOU, YAGURA, AND EVERY PIECE OF SHIT LOYAL TO HIM WHY THEY CALL ME THE MOTHER FUCKING DEMON OF THE HIDDEN MIST!"

* * *

Sasuke jumped in the air and slammed his heel down onto the Blue Hunter-nin, who held up his forearm to block. It was crazy how skilled the Hunter-nin was. Sasuke laid on all the Taijutsu combinations he had, but had yet to land a blow. The Uchiha wasn't dumb enough to think he would have lasted this long alone. Haku was showering down senbon needles on the Hunter-nin from her mirrors but couldn't land a hit either.

Sasuke didn't know how the ice mirror jutsu worked. It seemed as if needles were just appearing randomly from different mirrors towards the group's opponent. Even if the senbon were thrown behind the man in his blind spot, he still managed to somehow dodge them. Regardless, Sasuke was grateful for the pressure she was putting on the enemy.

"Naruto, swarm him!" Sasuke yelled.

Senbon stopped flying long enough for the ring of Narutos to come running in to attack Blue. Sasuke ran through some hand signs and stopped on the tiger seal. He watched, waiting for Naruto to get clear of the attack. Blue started tossing Naruto clones left and right. Blue punched one of the random Narutos and it ended up being the real one. All of the clones "poofed" out of existence at once as the real one went flying, blood trailing from his nose.

That was the moment Sasuke had been waiting for. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Sasuke quickly launched a fireball at his opponent. Blue rolled out of the way as the fireball passed by and dissipated against one of the ice mirrors. As Blue rolled, he grabbed a handful of senbon on the ground and threw them around one of the mirrors. Suddenly, Haku's image in all the mirrors flinched as a needle appeared in her right shoulder.

"I'm disappointed", the Blue Hunter-nin spoke up with a gruff voice. "Back in my day, kids had to be tough as nails just to get through the academy. The young generation nowadays has gotten soft. It's bad for you."

"Oh and by the way, this isn't the first time I've run into this ice mirror jutsu", He motioned at the ice mirrors surrounding them. "Back in the day I served with many members of the Yuki clan. The user appears like they are in all the mirrors, but in reality they are in just one and the others cast a reflection. I also know that the user can jump from mirror to mirror at speeds faster than the human eye can perceive." The Blue Hunter-nin turned around and pointed at the mirror behind him. "For example you're in this mirror right now, waiting to see if you can catch me from behind. Normally that might work but not against an opponent like me. I can't perceive your movements while you jump from mirror to mirror, but I do have the ability to tell which mirror you're in when you do stop."

Sasuke gritted his teeth. _'Damn! He's figuring us out. I got to hit him with something unexpected.'_ He saw Naruto stagger to his feet. "Hey Dobe, can you make any more clones?"

"Of Course I can! Do you really think I'd be down and out after one punch? I don't think so." Naruto pointed a thumb to himself. He then crossed his fingers "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Sasuke watched as multiple Narutos appeared. "Good, do you remember what happened between me and your clone outside of Tazuna's house?"

All of the Narutos glared at him and nodded.

"Ok we're doing that again" said Sasuke as he started some hand signs.

A few of the Narutos called Sasuke an "Asshole" as they all ran at the Blue Hunter-nin again to swarm him.

Blue got into his fighting stance "Ugh this again". Again, Blue started tossing and striking the multiple Narutos as they came near him. A few grabbed onto his limbs, but that hardly slowed him down. The world around Blue seemed to be a blur of orange bodies and smoke from shadow clones getting destroyed.

Which is what Sasuke was looking for. He finished his hand signs and launched a fire ball into the middle of the Naruto cluster. The real Naruto was hovering at the edge of the group, watching for Sasuke to act. Once he saw the fireball, he dove back, leaving his clones to continue occupying the Blue Hunter-nin.

Blue turned and saw the incoming fireball but was slow to act. It was hard to dive out of the way with multiple bodies trying to kick, punch, and or stab you. The fireball came in fast and obliterated through the clones to hit the Hunter-nin.

Sasuke smiled as the fireball erupted on impact with their opponent. The heat radiated and warmed the surrounding air.

The smoke cleared to reveal the Blue Hunter-nin with charred clothing, arms crossed in front of him as a guard. "Huh, well I didn't think you'd do something like that. Destroying your team's own shadow clones to try and hit me. I guess it worked, but normally ninja wouldn't be able to afford wasting so much chakra on so many shadow clones just to have them be sacrificial distractions." The Hunter-nin stood up straight. "I guess I need to give you brats more credit and start taking this fight more seriously."

The Blue Hunter-nin suddenly ducked forward to dodge as Haku flew at him from behind with senbon in hand. As she sailed over, Blue reached up and grabbed her ankle and slammed her face first into the ground. Placing a knee on her back, he reached and tore off her mask. "You don't deserve this. "

Sasuke rushed forward throwing a punch. Blue caught the punch with his right hand, but Sasuke used his momentum to turn and clinch his legs around the arm to form a makeshift arm-bar on the Hunter-nin's arm.

"Get away from her!" Naruto rushed in from the other side with a kunai in hand. Blue took Haku's mask, which was in his left hand, and slapped the kunai out of Narutos hand. He then quickly dropped the mask and grabbed Naruto by the throat, lifting him up off the ground.

Beneath the Hunter-nin, Haku wove some hand signs. "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Shisho!" Water droplets rose from the ground and formed into needles floating in the air. The needles flew forward towards the Hunter-nin. Just before impact, the Hunter-nin took Naruto and quickly moved him in front as a shield.

Naruto screamed as the water needles penetrated his skin into his back. "Naruto!" Haku yelled as she quickly dispelled the jutsu so the water needles lost their shape and became normal water once again. It was too late, as the back of Naruto clothing was dotted with too many holes. Blood soon began dripping down his arms and legs.

"Naruto!" yelled Sasuke as he started to apply all the pressure he could to break the Hunter-nin's arm. It was apparently working, because the Hunter-nin quickly gave all of his attention to the Uchiha. He tossed the injured Naruto aside, stood up and booted Haku out of the way, and then proceed to slam Sasuke against one of the ice mirrors. Fissures formed on the ice around the impact zone as Sasuke heard something within him crack. He lost his grip and slid off the Hunter-nin's arm, dazed from the blow.

Sasuke's vision came back into focus as he saw the Hunter-nin standing tall and massaging his right arm. "Damn you, you almost broke my arm!"

Abruptly, The Hunter-nin leaned his head to the side as a kunai came flying by where his head was. Sasuke turned his head and saw who the thrower was. There standing behind the Blue Hunter-nin was Sakura.

"Hey leave them alone!" she yelled.

Sasuke felt his stomach lurch as the Hunter-nin gave him a swift kick to the gut, leaving him on the ground. The Hunter-nin then turned to face Sakura. "Oh God I almost forgot about you pinkie. As if I didn't have enough annoying brats to deal with. Hopefully you have some secret S-ranked jutsu up your sleeve, otherwise you're dead."

Sakura's confidence was shaken as she slowly reached into her pouch and raised a kunai at the ready, knees trembling.

"Ya I didn't think so" the Hunter-nin shook his head. He reached into his pouch and also drew a kunai. "Now be a good girl and leave this fight."

Sakura's knees were still shaking but she didn't move from her spot.

"Don't say I didn't warn you" the Hunter-nin threw his kunai at Sakura. Sakura seeing the kunai heading towards her shoulder, jumped out of the way at the last second.

What neither of them accounted for was where everyone else was on the battle field. As the kunai flew past its intended target, everyone realized that Naruto was in the trajectory path. Everyone also saw that he had no idea it was coming his way.

Sasuke was surprised that it was the Hunter-nin who spoke up first. "BOY MOVE!"

* * *

Naruto had had better days that was for damn sure. A few seconds ago he had been trying to save Haku from the Blue Hunter-nin, then the guy had used him as a human shield. All the nerves in Naruto's back flared violently as the water needles shredded his back all at once. Despite having a hand around his neck strangling him, Naruto had forced air up to scream in pain. The few more seconds he was being held there felt like an eternity, as he felt the solid needles lose shape and turn into liquid again.

The world had started spinning as he felt himself get tossed to the side. Everything hurt as he laid there on the ground. Every time he tried to move, the holes in his back flexed and caused him to feel the pain all over again. The many empty cavities dotting his back stung as the raw flesh was exposed to air.

He opened his eyes and saw Sasuke slumped on the ground at the base of a cracked ice mirror. Also to his surprise, Sakura was standing there confronting the Hunter-nin. _'I can't let Sakura fight that guy alone!'_

Despite the pain, Naruto clenched his hands and forced himself up onto his hands and knees. His body SCREAMED for him to stay still. Staying on his hands and knees, he took a second to regain his composure.

He was brought to his senses as he heard a loud voice call out to him "BOY MOVE!"

Still on his hands and knees, Naruto looked up and everything started to move in slow motion. A kunai was speedily heading right for his face and there was nothing he could do about it. Behind the flying weapon, he saw Sasuke and Sakura had wide eyes on him.

Fear gripped Naruto's heart as he realized this was the end. Oddly, it wasn't the prospect of death that scared him. Instead, a different thought occurred to him. _'Will anybody care that I died?'_

He closed his eyes as he braced himself for the blade to hit his face. Seconds ticked by, but nothing came. Slowly, Naruto opened one eye and his mouth fell open in shock.

He could see Haku's back. She looked slumped over as she stood there. Slight movement caught Naruto's eye as he saw blood start to drip down in between her legs. The mirrors around the area slumped and turned back into water, falling to the ground.

Her legs buckled as she fell down onto her back in front of Naruto. There, imbedded deep in her abdomen, was the kunai. Her garments began to take on a dark shade as the blood pooled around the wound.

Naruto quickly forced himself to crawl over to her so he was above her. "No! Haku… why? W-w-why did you do that? Zabuza told you to protect yourself you IDIOT!" Naruto's voice rose, "I WAS JUST SOME STUPID BOY YOU MET IN THE WOODS FOR A FEW MINUTES! I WAS YOUR ENEMY! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!"

Her breaths seemed shallow and hitched. Her eye lids fluttered as she stared into Naruto's eyes and responded, "I…I…", She inhaled sharply, "protect… t-the…. people… precious.. to.. me…".

Her eyes closed.

Time seemed to stop as Naruto stared down at her blankly. She wasn't moving anymore.

She was dead.

Naruto heard the Blue Hunter-nin's voice in the background, "You pinkie, get your medical shit out of your pack and get over there!"

The whole world seemed to melt away as Naruto forgot the pain of the wounds in his back.

Something seemed to snap deep within Naruto. Anger flooded his mind and veins. The only thing he could hear was the sound of his heart beating loudly in his ears. He felt all of his strength return and then some. The air around him felt hot as red tendrils of chakra snaked out of his body. The world seemed to take on a shade of red as he felt his soul be gripped with bloodlust. Even his hair felt more ridged.

He looked up and saw the Blue Hunter-nin flinch backwards. Naruto let out an animalistic scream that caused another large burst of red chakra to surge out of his body and push the other ninja back.

" **I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"**

* * *

Extra:

 _Shortly after the 3_ _rd_ _ninja war_

Zakaza strained as he poured chakra into his jutsu. A large chunk of rock and soil pushed itself further into the mountain, widening out the cavern he and the Master had created inside the mountain. Months ago, Zakaza had doubted that they would be able to building anything remarkable inside the mountain. It had seemed like too large of a task to complete.

He was wrong.

The Master had performed most of the work in carving out the mountain. Along the way, he had taught Zakaza earth based jutsu so he could aid in the work. Zakaza marveled at the magnitude of the earth jutsus his Master was able to perform. Never would he have guessed that a man of his age would be able to perform such feats as turning an imposing mountain into a base of operations.

Just as impressive was the detail that Master demonstrated when setting up a base. Zakaza had imagined that, at best, they would create one large open room inside the mountain. They did have a large cavern (which he was currently working on widening) but the Master had also performed jutsu to make branches of smaller chambers that connected to the large cavern.

The small chambers were to be used as living quarters. Upon closer inspection, Zakaza had found that each room had a narrow duct that lead to the surface of the mountain outside providing ventilation. Each branch of chambers also had a dedicated water room. The top of the water rooms had a few openings that allowed water to stream down from the melted snow runoff at the very peak of the mountain. Narrow cracks that looked like a spider web coated the floor and allowed the water to drain out rather than accumulate. The water pouring down throughout these rooms would be used as showers and a source of clean water to drink. It would be very cold, but it would suffice for what they had planned.

Zakaza wiped the sweat off his forehead as he stopped to take a break. He was at his limits.

The sounds of birds caught his attention. Making his way to the main entrance outside, he was surprised to find over a dozen birds with messages on their legs waiting for him. He already knew they had to be responses from the minor villages. What surprised him was how quickly the villages had responded. He figured it was a quick rejection to their offer to take on their war orphans.

He reached down and took a letter off one of the messenger birds. Opening it, he read the contents.

He dropped the letter and ran inside to fetch the Master.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Sorry Sakura didn't get a lot of love this chapter. She'll have her moments to shine later on. She'll need a life event to kick her butt into gear to start being an important member of Team 7 rather than a fangirl.**

 **Question:**

 **So I know Jiraiya is one of the Legendary Sannin what with his abilities to summon giant toads, make spiraling energy balls of death and being a seal master. That's all fine and good but why don't we talk more about that man's fantastic hair? That man is rocking a freaking lion's mane.**

 **So what kind of shampoo do you think he uses? My vote is Mane 'n Tail.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Diversion, the Turncoat, and the Badass**

This chasing was getting old. Orange had followed Kakashi into the trees. The Copy-nin proved to be a squirrely opponent. All he was doing was dodging through the trees and running away. She was having her birds dive bomb and crash through the branches in an attempt to knock him down to the forest floor. She was hoping that an accelerated fall from these heights would be fatal or at least permanently injure the Leaf-nin.

Thus far she had been unsuccessful. Kakashi would always avoid her attacks. On the bright side, he had yet to turn around and try to attack her. She was putting on the pressure so all he could do was defense. She figured this chase would come down to who ran out of stamina first. If that was the case then she believed that she had the advantage. True, she was having to continuously pour out chakra to keep her Ninjutsu active, but Kakashi had taken damage and had to have fatigued himself from fighting the water resistance earlier.

She watched as Kakashi once again narrowly avoided being pummeled by a water bird as the bird hit the branch he was just on. The dive bomb had enough momentum to create an explosive burst of water and broken branches that crashed to the forest floor. The water droplets hovered in the air as they reversed course and came back together again to form a large Albatross which took flight to once more pursue the Copy-nin.

Kakashi suddenly came to a stop on a branch and threw up his hands. "Wait!" He turned and faced Orange, "I surrender."

Well, that was certainly unexpected. Orange came to a stop on a branch a few trees away and quickly called off the next bird that was going to dive bomb him. Instead, she guided them all to maneuver through the branches and fly an orbit around the tree the Copy-nin was in. Now there would be no escape.

"What's your game?" She asked.

"No game at all. If I continue to run I'll lose. So I surrender" the Leaf-nin replied nonchalantly.

"Really? Just like that?" Orange sounded doubtful.

"Yep."

"Why aren't you covering your Sharingan?"

"Oh ya I forgot about that. No wonder I was starting to feel dizzy." He pulled his headband down to cover his left eye. "There, much better. Sometimes I get so forgetful."

Orange raised an eyebrow under her mask. "Huh, well it's a good thing I saw your Sharingan, otherwise I wouldn't have believed you were the Kakashi Hatake." She pulled out a scroll and summoned some rope and tossed it over to him. "Tie your hands up with this. Once you're tied, I want you to face the tree with your eyes closed while I put a chakra restraint tag on you."

Kakashi stared at the rope in his hands for a moment before looking up. "What type of rope is this?"

"What?" She was unsure if she heard him right.

"What kind of rope is this?"

"I have no idea." She replied.

He ran it through his fingers feeling the different fibers. Then he gripped it between his hands and gave it a few tugs. "Impressive, it's soft but strong. It wouldn't leave any marks on the prisoner's wrists. You could take someone prisoner and later release them with full deniability." He looked back up at her. "You just have to tell me who your supplier is. I bet you Konoha would buy tons of this –"

"Hatake. Please tie your hands up with the rope" Orange interrupted, getting frustrated with the Leaf-nin's lack of focus.

"Oh right, my apologies." He analyzed the rope and started to tie a knot. After a moment of work, he would stop and shake his head and then proceed to undo the knot and try again. He repeated this cycle a dozen times trying out different knots.

Orange was starting to get impatient. "Is there a problem Leaf-nin?"

Kakashi looked up at her a little startled. "Oh! Sorry I forgot you were there." He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I tend to zone out when I get concentrating on a task. I can't decide which knot I should tie. I have this knot I invented that I like to call the 'double-over-bird-nest-super-knot', but I don't think it would be a good prisoner knot. What kind of knot do you think I should use?"

"Hatake stop fucking around and tie the damn knot" Orange responded clearly pissed.

"You want me to tie the 'double-over-bird-nest-super-knot'?"

"No! I don't even know what that is."

"Well here I can show you first and then you can decide if that's really the knot you want me to use." He started to weave the rope through various loops and then stopped. "Huh… well this is embarrassing. I'm having a hard time remembering how to tie the 'double-over-bird-nest-super-knot'." He continued to squint at the rope.

"HATAKE I AM LITERALLY TWO SECONDS AWAY FROM KNOCKING YOUR ASS-" Suddenly, Orange stopped yelling as a thought popped into her head. "You're stalling me."

"I am not." Kakashi replied.

"Why are you stalling me?" Orange accused.

"I'm not stalling you. I'm clearly in a knot conundrum that you refuse to help me with. By the way, are you single?"

"You ARE stalling me!" She responded angrily pointing at Kakashi. "You're stalling me because… because…" She thought for a second before a realization hit her. "Oh you Mother Fu-"

Kakashi sighed as he interrupted her. "I guess the cat's out of the bag. Only one thing left to do." He raised his hand in a hand sign. Suddenly, smoke started coming from the inside of his flak jacket.

Orange quickly weaved a hand sign of her own as she jumped back. All three water birds came swooping in front of her, placing themselves between her and Kakashi.

A loud "Boom" echoed throughout the forest as the explosive tags inside of Kakashi's vest went off. The water birds burst as the shockwave from the explosion hit them. Luckily for Orange, this somewhat cushioned the shockwave before it hit her and sent her sailing through tree branches. Orange felt her clothes and skin tear as her body broke through branch after branch. Finally, she reached out and grabbed a hold of a branch right before she would have plummeted to the forest floor.

After a moment to collect her senses, she hoisted herself up and regained her balance. Not wasting any time, she started to jump from branch to branch back the way she came as fast as she could towards the bridge.

* * *

 _Back at the bridge_

Purple finished wrapping his shin with some extra clothing. Cautiously, he put weight on it and winced from the pain. It was a crude bandage, but it would do until he could get some proper medical treatment. He turned around abruptly as he heard a sound behind him.

There crouching down where he had thrown the smoke bomb earlier, was Kakashi with his hand pressed down on a scroll.

Instantly, Purple got into a fighting stance. "I thought you ran into the forest?!"

Kakashi shook his head. "Nope, your comrade is currently chasing a shadow clone."

Purple felt frustrated at getting fooled. "You're a clever one Kakashi, but that doesn't change anything. You might have sliced my leg open, but I can still hold my own against you until Orange gets back. You'll always be too slow when treading through the water my juts-"

Purple had no warning as the dirt around him seemed explode as some shapes came up out of the earth and shallow water. In the next moment, he felt pain all over as he finally realized what had happened. Dogs of various breeds and sizes were latched onto different parts of his body. He tried to move and escape but they bit down even tighter and held him in place. The worst was the larger than normal bulldog in the back biting down on his shoulder and using his giant paws to push down on him to keep him from moving.

During the scuffle, Purple's mask had been knocked off. Kakashi could now see that the Hunter-nin was a dark haired man, maybe in his mid-twenties. Pain spread across the Hunter-nin's face as he continued to struggle against the ninja hounds.

"How did they find me through the dirt?!" the Hunter-nin pleaded.

"They smelled you", he held up a piece of cloth. "I ripped this from you when you tried to rush me earlier." He dropped the cloth and let it drift off in the wind. "It was a bad idea to threaten my kids." He wove some hand signs and then thrust his right arm down while gripping it with his left hand. "Raikiri!"

The air seemed to buzz as a blue light emanated in Kakashi's hand. Abruptly, blue lightning sprung to life, dancing around a dense concentration of energy in Kakashi's palm. Tendrils of blue lightning stretched out all around from the dense concentration and touched the water on the ground or the open air. A loud chirping sound came from the jutsu as Kakashi rushed forward towards Purple.

Purple knew there was nothing he could do to dodge. The sight of Kakashi running towards him holding deafening death in his hand was all he needed to see to accept this. He was afraid but he also knew what his duty as an elite Hunter-nin was. He needed to give his team the best chance he could. He started to kneed saliva in his mouth to form his last jutsu which, funny enough, was a technique stolen from Konoha.

As Kakashi closed in, Purple muttered under his breath "Tenkyu". He felt his saliva form into a few short water senbon needles in his mouth. Just as Kakashi threw his arm forward, Purple spit out the senbon as hard as he could. That would be the last thing he would ever remember.

Kakashi's Sharingan had saved him in a lot of situations. Today was no different. The Sharingan barely caught movement out of the Hunter-nin's mouth. Three liquid senbon came flying out, aiming for Kakashi's heart as he thrusted Raikiri forward. Kakashi twisted his torso the best he could but still got pricked by all three of them in the left bicep. He felt his hand pierce into the Hunter-nin's chest like stabbing a hot knife into butter. Kakashi stopped short of piercing all the way through, as to not accidentally hurt one of his ninken on the other side.

Life left Purple's eyes as his head slumped forward. Kakashi withdrew his hand as blood poured from the gaping hole. The hounds released their grip and the Hunter-nin's body fell forward face down.

"You ok Kakashi?" spoke up Pakkun, looking at Kakashi's arm.

"Ya, I'm fine" Kakashi panted. Constant use of the Sharingan and a powerful jutsu like Raikiri was leaving him fatigued. He reached over to pull out the senbon. Before he could, they reverted back to their liquid state and dripped down his arm. _'I think these were made of spit…. gross.'_

Abruptly, all the hounds started to whimper and lower themselves with their tails between their legs. Kakashi was taken aback. "What wrong with-". Then Kakashi sensed it. Dread crept up his spine as he felt an overwhelming presence in the air. Looking back towards the bridge, he saw a red pillar of chakra coming from the ground and reaching towards the sky. There was no mistaking it, this power was from the Kyubi.

"Shit!" Kakashi cursed outwardly. He turned to his hounds "boys I need to go take care of the kids, I need you to-. " Before he could finish, three large water birds crashed into the pack and sent them tumbling all around. Kakashi turned, only to be met with a kick to the side of the head.

* * *

With unexpected speed, a feral looking Naruto rushed forward and punched the Blue Hunter-nin in the gut, causing the ninja to skid backwards. If Blue hadn't used chakra to hold his feet to the ground, he would have been sent tumbling for sure. Blue slumped forward clutching his gut as Naruto came in again for the attack.

Before he could make contact, Blue struck him with a backhand which sent Naruto flying. Almost immediately after hitting the ground, Naruto was back on his feet and on the attack. Blue was caught off-guard again as Naruto came flying in, unphased from the blow before. Blue used his hand to catch one of Naruto's punches but regretted it. Although Blue managed to stop the punch, the force behind it caused Blue's entire arm to go numb. Blue booted Naruto away, only for Naruto to come flying back once again unphased.

Instead of directly confronting Naruto, Blue decided that it would be best to jump out of the way and dodge him. Even for an experienced ninja like himself, Blue was unnerved by the turn of events. The kid looked like an animal. His fingernails were longer, his canines were prominently displayed, and his eye's had turned red with slit pupils. He was familiar with the Inuzuka's clan's beast mimicry technique, but this… well this was something different. The kid was giving off an evil presence.

Blue turned towards Sasuke as he continued to jump and dodge Naruto. "Hey Uchiha! Call your teammate off." Sasuke didn't respond as he stared bewildered at Naruto. Blue stopped and grabbed Naruto by the front of his shirt in an attempt to hold him back. He instantly regretted this as Naruto bit down on his hand drawing blood. Blue let out a grunt and again threw Naruto away from him. Blue yelled at Sasuke for a second time, "HEY! Tell your teammate to stand down."

Sasuke was snapped out of a shocked state as he shook his head and responded, "Why would I do that?"

"Because if I don't get over to the Yuki girl right now she'll die. Your pink haired friend over there has no idea what she's doing."

Sasuke looked over and saw Sakura trying to stop Haku from losing more blood. He gritted his teeth. "Why do you care? You were trying to kill us earlier."

"Are you serious?" Blue's voice sounded incredulous. "I'm an elite Hunter-nin, if I wanted to kill you and your friends I would have already." He ducked as Naruto came sailing over him.

Sasuke stood there silent as he contemplated. After a few seconds he looked up and spoke, "Naruto, stand down."

Naruto turned and locked his red eyes onto Sasuke. " **What the hell did you just say?"** His voice had a low growl behind it.

"I said stand down. He's right, if he wanted to kill one of us, he could have by now." Sasuke stood firm.

" **Whatever, I'm not listening to you idiot. I'm going to make this guy pay for hurting Haku!** " Naruto crouched down to attack the Blue Hunter-nin.

Sasuke jumped between Naruto and the Hunter-nin. He turned back and spoke to Blue, "If you're going to help Haku, then go and do it." Blue nodded his head and ran towards Haku and Sakura.

" **Get out of my way Sasuke!"** Naruto threatened.

"Shut up and listen! That guy is the best chance we have at saving Haku right now. I couldn't care less what happens to her, but she's important to you right? If you care about her, you'll stop being an idiot and stand down." Sasuke glared at Naruto.

Naruto's expression softened as he took a few deep breaths. His voice lost its low growl as he replied, "fine."

* * *

Blue hastily kneeled next to Haku as Sakura jumped back in surprise. "Relax I'm not going to hurt you. Now what have you done for her so far?"

It took a second for Sakura to reply. "Uh I gave her some plasma pills. Other than that, I've just been applying pressure to the wound to prevent her from bleeding out. I don't dare pull out the kunai because I fear that she'll bleed out even more."

Blue reached into his pocket and withdrew a small first aid pouch. It was bad, Haku had lost a lot of blood. Her skin was ghostly pale and she was just barely breathing.

"Ok girl, what's your name?" Blue pulled a small bag of white powder out of the first aid pouch, along with some needle and string.

"Sakura", she replied.

"Ok Sakura, we'll need to get that kunai out and stich her up fast, otherwise you're right, she will bleed out. I'm going to pull the kunai out and hurry and pour this powder into the wound. This powder will cause the blood to clot temporarily and give us a few minutes to stich her up." He handed Sakura the needle and string. "I need you to get inside and close the wound. Her intestines have been messed up real bad. "

Sakura took the needle and string, gripping them tightly. "Shouldn't you do that? I've never stitched a wound before."

"You've never stitched a wound before?!" Blue responded incredulously. "Why were you in the back the whole fight? I thought you were the medical support for your team. Surely you can't be THAT useless?"

Sakura felt a stab of shame. He was right. She was useless.

Blue shook his head. "Well never mind, time for you to learn. You need to do the stitching because your hands are smaller. If I try to get inside there, I'll likely widen the wound." He reached over and gripped the kunai handle. "Now get ready. It'll be hard to see where the intestines are cut open with all the blood. You have a better chance of feeling for openings with your finger than spotting them with your eyes."

Swiftly, he tugged the kunai out of Haku. Although Haku looked like she was on deaths doorstep, she let out a weak scream. Blue quickly opened his bag and poured the white powder inside the wound. He then gripped Haku's green haori along with the brown uniform underneath and ripped them open to expose her stomach. Haku started to react to the pain by reaching for the wound, but was stopped when Blue grabbed onto her hands and held them away.

"Ok Sakura, now put your finger inside and feel for areas that have been cut." Blue looked at Sakura, his face unreadable behind the hunter mask. "The stitching doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to hold her over until we can get her proper medical treatment."

Sakura nodded and cautiously put a finger into the wound. She fought her initial reaction to retch as it felt warm and sticky. Soon enough she could make out the tube feeling of the different organs and the slight gaps where the kunai had cut them. After a minute, she felt like she had a vague idea of where she needed to stitch.

She took the needle and delicately started to stitch the gaps closed. It was difficult at first, trying to weave in such a small space and not stick Haku unnecessarily with the needle. Surprisingly, Sakura got into a rhythm and soon felt somewhat comfortable.

"Why are you suddenly helping us?" Blue looked over his shoulder at the voice and saw the Uchiha and the other boy standing there off to the side.

Blue turned back to watch Sakura stitch, but did respond to Sasuke's question. "I'm not helping you, I'm helping her. She may be the last member of the Yuki clan." Naruto noticed Sasuke wince at that statement. "Kiri can't afford to lose her."

Naruto spoke up since Sasuke had fallen silent. "So are you trying to kill Zabuza or not?"

"I'm not. I've been pretending to be loyal to Yagura so I can give intel to the Kiri rebels. Now that we've found a Yuki clan member, I was planning on turning on and attacking the rest of the Hunter squad. I just need the right opportunity to do the most damage, so I've been fighting you all as a diversion."

"Well why didn't you attack them from the start! Our sensei and Zabuza are fighting two ninja at once." Naruto questioned.

"No offense kid, but what happens to your sensei is not of my concern. I wouldn't worry too much though, he's already killed one of them. Zabuza is currently fighting Black one-on-one and I'm pretty sure he'll be able to hold his own."

"Aren't you afraid that the Hunter-nin with the green mask will gang up on Zabuza?" Naruto asked.

"No. Black wants to prove himself against a Seven Swordsman. It also doesn't help that Green hates Black… so no I don't think she'll interfere with their fight."

Naruto smiled "well that's great! That means there's just one left for us to deal with!"

Blue shook his head. "No kid, it's not great. Green is the most dangerous of the squad."

Naruto's smile vanished. "But I thought Black was the leader?"

Blue nodded. "Ya his is, but that don't make him the most dangerous. Black is the second strongest on the squad. Green isn't allowed to be the leader because she isn't mentally right… even if she is the strongest." Blue turned back and looked at Naruto through his mask. "Green has an experimental jutsu that could kill everyone here. THAT'S why I have to be careful when I betray the squad. I don't want to panic her and have her try to use her jutsu and end up killing us all."

Sakura leaned up. "I think I got everything sewed up inside. Now I just got to seal the skin." She started to stitch the skin on Haku's wound.

"Is she going to be alright?" Naruto sounded worried.

"If we can get her some real medical treatment soon, then yes she should be alright." Blue responded to Naruto's relief. "Sakura, you take the Yuki girl back to town and try to find a doctor. Boys, unfortunately this isn't going like I planned, so I'm going to need your help in providing a diversion so I can try to kill Green before she knows what's going on." He pointed at Naruto, "I need you to make some clones that look like the Yuki girl and Sakura. You and your clones will then stay here and play dead." He pointed at Sasuke, "I'm going to throw you over my shoulder and go back to Green. You need to act unconscious. I'm going to ask her to take you while I go and help kill Kakashi. When I hand you off to her, I'm going to slice her throat open."

"Sounds like a good plan. Too bad it won't work honey." Sounded an unfamiliar female voice.

Everyone turned, startled by the new voice. Standing there with her hands on her hips was Green.

"Are you really that surprised? A red pillar of chakra and oodles of demonic energy really shouts 'Hey Green come look at me!' It's too bad really, I always thought you were the cute one of our group Blue." She reached up and flipped her hair. "Now you'll never get a piece of this beautiful booty."

Blue suddenly rushed her hoping to catch her off guard. He grabbed a senbon off the ground and thrust it forward to impale her neck. She grabbed his arm and threw him over her shoulder onto the ground. As he tried to stand, she hooked her legs around his head and one of his arms. She then started to apply pressure by clinching her legs together. "Don't worry sweetie, I'm just going to pass you out so I can take you back to Lord Yagura. THEN he'll probably kill you."

"Damn!" Sasuke pulled out a kunai. "Sakura get Haku out of here! Naruto, can you do whatever you did earlier?"

"I-I-I don't know how I did that. I just saw Haku get hurt and I just got so mad… and something came out of me…"

"Well don't worry sweetie, I'm sure I can make you just as mad" Green sounded off. She wove a hand sign with one hand. "Also, I can't let pinkie go anywhere. Don't want this party turning into a sausage fest!"

Sakura was alarmed as a few strands of water rose off the ground and rushed forward into her mouth and nose. She tried to breathe out hard to get the water out of her mouth, but it didn't work. Instead, she felt the water force itself down into her lung regions. She fell to her knees gripping her throat and chest. She tried to inhale but couldn't. She was drowning.

She felt herself being forcefully shaken as Naruto kneeled down in front of her. "Sakura what's wrong?!"

She tried to shout that she was drowning, oh how she tried. All that came out though was a gargle. Terror gripped her mind as she was powerless. Her chest started to go into convulsions as her vision started to go fuzzy. _'I'm about to die'._

The last thing she saw was the blurry image of Sasuke punching her in the face.

* * *

Black looked up at the towering dragon made of water coming for him. Lucky for him, Black knew the strengths and weaknesses of most of Kiri's water based jutsu. This water dragon in front of him packed a lot of power for a water jutsu. Unfortunately, it required advanced shape manipulation and was susceptible to falling apart early if its shape was severely disturbed.

Black threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached into the mouth of the water dragon as it approached. The tag exploded on contact, causing the dragon's head to burst and rain down water droplets. The rest of the dragon's body waivered as it lost its shape and fell down to the ground with a splash.

Out of the cloud of water droplets came Zabuza ferociously swinging his giant sword.

Once again, Black found himself on the retreat. It seemed as if he was constantly on the defense ever since Zabuza got angry. There had been a couple of close calls when Black had nearly lost his head. The Hunter-nin had been getting pummeled. He was able to block the giant sword alright, but Zabuza was making sure that Black received a palm strike or kick every time they locked swords. At first it hadn't been a big deal, but now the repeated strikes were starting to take their toll.

Again, Zabuza caught him off guard. In their latest sword clash Zabuza stabbed the seversword into the ground and gripped the handle to give him leverage as he spun to kick Black in the face, using the giant sword as a pivot point. Black was propelled backwards as his mask slammed into his own face and broke his nose. Blood started to drip out of the bottom of the mask as it streamed from his nose.

Zabuza stood tall as he gripped his blade and yanked it out of the ground. "What was that you said earlier about having the advantage? Seems to me I've been kicking your ass ever since you started running your mouth." Zabuza started to chuckle. "And you thought you could be one of the Seven Swordsmen. Give me a break."

Black let out a low growl. "Come at me Momochi!"

"My pleasure." Zabuza readied his blade and ran towards Black. Unexpectedly, Black drew back and hurled one of his Ninjato blades at Zabuza. Zabuza leapt over the flying sword, leaving himself exposed in the air.

"Suiton: Suiben no Jutsu!" Black formed a whip out of water and lashed it out. It wrapped around Zabuza's neck before he had time to react. Black yanked the whip downwards so Zabuza slammed face first into the ground.

Black concentrated and used his chakra to generate an electric current into the water whip. Zabuza was just getting to his knees when he felt the shock around his neck. It burned and caused his muscles to lock up as he fell forward. He let out a low yell.

"This has been fun, but it's time to put you down. This seems fitting though doesn't it? You're a like a feral dog that tried to run away, but now I got you on a leash." Black turned around and yanked the whip over his shoulder. Zabuza's body was whipped through the air and slammed on the other side of the battlefield, leaving his giant blade behind.

Black continued to pump electricity into the whip as he laughed. "Now you don't even have your sword! You are truly lost." He threw his own sword to the side and walked backwards, dragging Zabuza, until he could lean down and pick up Kubikiribocho with his free hand. "I now lay claim to your sword, and hereby appointment myself a member and new leader of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist under the guidance of Lord Yagura!" Black shouted in triumph. "I now condemn you, Zabuza Momochi, to death!"

Zabuza muttered out a strained inaudible whisper.

"What was that? I can't hear you over the sound of you dying!" Black mocked.

Zabuza clenched his hands and punched the ground. Shakily, he got to his feet. It was a battle the whole way, as the electric current tried to restrain his movement. His voice came out as a painful growl. "I told you, having one of the swords doesn't make you one of the Seven Swordsmen."

Black was bewildered. "How in the hell are you standing right now?" Black pumped more electricity into the whip which caused Zabuza to visibly wince as he tried to keep himself from screaming. After a moment, Zabuza raised his head and reached out to grasp the whip that was around his neck. With a grunt, he pulled Black a few steps closer.

"Being one of the Seven Swordmen isn't about just holding a fancy sword with a cool name" Zabuza grunted while he continued to pull on the whip, despite being electrocuted. "It isn't about obtaining a high ranking position, or the glory."

Black strained and dug his heels in the dirt to stop himself from being pulled in. It didn't work though. Inch by inch, Zabuza pulled Black in. The Hunter-nin was starting to believe that Zabuza was in fact a real demon. "Will you just fall already?! Damn you, you can't win!"

Burn marks were forming a ring around Zabuza's neck where the whip was wrapped. The Swordsman let out deep guttural breaths as he fought the pain and pulled Black within striking distance.

Black quickly let go of the whip, abandoning the water jutsu. With both hands, he swung Kubikiribocho in a downward stroke as hard as he could, hoping to cut Zabuza in half.

The blade was stopped short.

For the first time in the fight, Black felt real fear at the sight before him.

Zabuza had caught the blade in his hands above his head. Blood dripped down from his palms onto his forehead. The blood ran down and streamed around his eyes and down his face into the cloth covering his mouth. Smoke was still faintly coming off the Demon's body from being burned with electricity. Severe burn marks could be seen on Zabuza's neck and chest.

"LET ME TELL YOU WHAT BEING ONE OF THE SEVEN SWORDSMEN ACTUALLY MEANS!" Zabuza yelled as he held the blade. "BEING ONE OF THE SEVEN SWORDSMEN MEANS YOU'RE ONE OF THE BADDEST MOTHER FUCKERS ON THE PLANET!"

With that he kicked the handle out of Black's hands, grabbed the sword in the air, and removed Black's head from his body in under a second.

Zabuza breathed heavily as he watched Black's headless body fall to the ground. After a few seconds, Zabuza himself wavered and fell down to the ground.

* * *

Extra:

 _Shortly after the 3_ _rd_ _ninja war_

Silence hung in the chamber as the Master finished reading the last letter. He folded the letter and set it on a stack with the others he had already read through. He stroked his chin as he contemplated, gazing at nothing in particular in the chamber.

Zakaza was anxious to hear what his Master had to say. Zakaza had only read the first letter, which had been from a minor village that accepted the Master's invitation to adopt their war orphans. He did not know if the other minor villages had also sent acceptance letters.

Unable to wait any longer, Zakaza finally spoke up. "Master what do the other letters say?"

The Master stopped stroking his chin and looked at his student. "What do you think they say?"

"I hope they accepted your offer" Zakaza replied.

"Yes but how many do you think accepted the offer?" the Master pushed.

Zakaza scratched the back of his head as he thought about it. "Well we are complete strangers… and villages are likely to be suspicious because the offer seems too good to be true… so I dunno… maybe a quarter of them accepted?"

The Master hummed. "In normal circumstances you'd probably be right with your logic. However, remember what I said earlier. People are only selfless when it's convenient to them. When times are desperate, people will always give in to selfishness. Now try again."

"Half of them?" Zakaza guessed.

"All of them accepted" the Master replied.

Zakaza was bewildered. "I'm sorry for my doubt Master, but I didn't think we'd have that much success."

The Master smiled, "It's ok child. Now you might pay attention to my advice more often. I've learned a thing or two over the years."

"So when should we go get them?" Zakaza asked.

"Now, now, lets not be hasty" the Master answered. "We have a few things to sort out first. First off, children need teachers. I won't be able to effectively teach thousands of children the basic day to day knowledge they need to learn. We'll need to hire teachers for that."

Zakaza looked at the Master skeptically. "Sorry I'm being doubtful again, but what teacher is going to come teach out in the middle of nowhere?"

The Master laughed and patted his student on the shoulder with his boney hand. "Well let me teach you another important piece of knowledge. Other than death itself, money is the most powerful force in the universe."

"And I, dear child, have a lot of money."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **I have a cold today, thus I'm lacking the willpower to come up with a silly Naruto question to ask you readers. If you have a silly question of your own, feel free to leave it in a review. Who knows, I might use your question on some future chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Naruto yelled while holding Sakura's head in his lap. She was out cold from being hit in the face by Sasuke.

Sasuke had his attention turned towards Green.

Naruto stood up angrily and grabbed him by the shoulder to turn him around. "Hey! I'm talking to you! Why the hell did you punch Sakura in the face?!"

Sasuke jerked his shoulder out of Naruto's hand. "Because Dobe, she was in a Genjutsu. I don't know what she was experiencing but she had stopped breathing. I had to shock her system out of it." He pointed at her, "and now she's breathing again."

Naruto looked at Sakura and sure enough he could see the steady rise and fall of her chest as she laid on the ground.

"Sorry", Naruto felt embarrassed at letting his emotions get the better of him.

"Whatever, we don't have time for this. We need to attack Green while she's occupied" Sasuke took off at a sprint towards Green.

* * *

Blue started to see stars as he used his free hand to try and pry Green's legs apart. If he didn't get free soon, he knew he'd be put to sleep. He struggled as she started to speak to him.

"What kind of man struggles to free himself when he has his face between a woman's legs?" She let out coolly. "Especially when you're caught between my gorgeous legs. Honestly, at this point I'm thinking you're more into men. Now hold still!" With that last word she reached down with her hand and took a grip on Blue's free collarbone. Putting pressure on his skin with her fingers, she was able to push her fingers inwards enough to gain a semi decent hold on the underside of his collarbone. With a quick jerk, she yanked her hand up and snapped the bone, causing Blue's free arm to lose its strength.

Blue tried to let out a yell of pain but all he got out was a muffled groan due to his airways being restricted. Any movement of his free arm caused a sharp stinging pain on his broken collarbone. His eyes glazed over as he started to pass out.

Abruptly, he felt the pressure around his neck release itself as he saw the Uchiha boy drop a heel onto the front of Green's mask. Her head snapped back and bounced off the ground. Blue felt himself move as he looked down and saw the blonde kid gripping him around the waist and jumping off to the side.

Sasuke tried to follow up on his initial attack by swinging his fist down to punch Green in the throat. Before it made contact, Green reached up and grabbed onto his wrist. She rolled and tossed Sasuke onto his back a little ways away.

She stood up, clearly pissed. Her mask had cracks all over. "You little shit! You're lucky I had the mask on otherwise you might have messed up my beautiful face!" She drew a handful of shuriken and threw them at him.

They were close enough that Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able dodge. They were too close coming in too fast. However, something seemed… off. The shuriken hadn't landed, yet Sasuke could see exactly where they were going to hit. He could see their arching trajectory. He could count the rotations of each spinning star as they sailed through the air. Hell, he even noticed that one of the stars had a slight blemish on one of its blades from not being cleaned properly. His mind was rapidly processing all of this information at once.

Everything Sasuke had learned about fighting told him that he would not be able to dodge at this range, yet his body seemed to move on autopilot. He angled his head so a shuriken bounced off his headband. He twisted his legs to a weird angle so the shuriken missed and imbedded themselves into the dirt. He clapped his hands together at exactly the right time and caught one of them in his palms before it could lodge into his chest.

He laid their wide eyed and finally let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Not one of the shuriken had hit him.

"Huh" Green's voice sounded. "Looks like little Uchiha finally grew into his eyes." Before Sasuke could react, she ran forward and kicked the shuriken out of his hands. He tried to roll away from her, but she caught him face down and pinned his arm behind his back. She reached over and dislodged a shuriken from the ground and pressed it against his neck.

"Get off of him!" Naruto yelled from the side. He was about to run forward but stopped Blue grabbed onto the back of his jacket with his good hand.

"Stop kid! She won't kill him. She needs him alive." Blue spoke up.

"That's right. If you rush in, I might panic and cut a little too deep into the back of his pretty little neck." Green spoke with a mocking tone.

Naruto gritted his teeth. There was nothing he could do.

Blue stood up straight, one of his arms hanging limply at his side. His demeanor looked defeated. "It doesn't matter anyways. My plan failed. She'll be able to kill us whenever she wants now that I don't have the element of surprise." He reached over to support his bad arm with his good arm. "So what happens now Green?"

Green cocked her head as if thinking. "What happens now? Well I want to have a little fun." Her masked face turned towards Naruto. "Hey Blondie, I'll make a deal with you. What I was planning to do was slash a nerve in the back of the little Uchiha's neck which would paralyze him. I am however, as generous as much as I am beautiful so I'll give you a chance to save your friend from being paralyzed. You know you'll be dead anyways, so if you agree to kill yourself right now, I'll just knock the Uchiha out instead of paralyzing him."

Naruto's breath caught in his throat as his blood ran cold. _'She wants me to kill myself? For Sasuke? Why would I do that for him? That jerk views me as something less than dirt. I don't owe him anything.'_

Then a familiar voice rang out at the back of Naruto's mind: _**'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.'**_

Naruto continued to have an internal conflict. _'Sasuke isn't my friend! He's always been a jerk that acts like he is better than everyone. Blue said she's going to kill us anyways. I might as well attack her and see if I can get Sasuke free. At least that way I have a chance while fighting on my feet…'_

' _ **Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.'**_

Naruto shut his eyes as tears started to form at the corner of his eyes. It wasn't fair. His usual bolstering confidence faded as he suddenly felt like child. He was just some kid wanting to prove himself to the world. Now this stranger behind a mask wanted to take away his goals. For what? Just because of some special eyeballs; he and his team would have to die?

' _ **Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are worse than trash.'**_

Naruto took a deep breath. No. He would not be worse than trash. He was Naruto Uzumaki. He would not let anyone hurt his comrades.

He drew a kunai out of his pouch.

Blue shook his head. "Don't do it kid. She's just fucking with you. She'll do whatever she wants with the Uchiha after we're dead. You'd be better to die fighting then let her talk you into something like suicide."

Naruto ignored Blue. He looked at Green with determined eyes. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My nindo is that I never give up and I never go back on my word. If you promise not to paralyze Sasuke, then I'll… do what you ask."

Green paused for a moment before she threw her head back and started to laugh. "Hahaha! Kid you want a ninja to keep a promise? You're an idiot."

Sasuke scowled from his position. He had struggled to get free, but it had been in vain. "Dobe, for once in your life don't be an idiot."

Naruto ignored Sasuke and instead addressed Green. "You might see me as some worthless Genin, but I wear a headband the same as you. I'm asking you as a ninja to ninja to keep this one promise. Swear that you won't hurt Sasuke."

Green stopped laughing. "Ya… let's say that I do keep that promise. What do you think will happen when I take him back to Kiri? Once Kiri gets a hold of him… well who know what kind of fun they'll have with him."

"I don't care what Kiri is wanting to do to him!" Naruto glared at her. He took another deep breath and forced out the next words. "You don't know Sasuke like I do. He is the genius of our class. He… he is one of the most capable people I've ever met". Sasuke stopped struggling underneath Green and stared at Naruto. "No cage you have at Kiri will keep him forever. Eventually, he'll escape and fulfill his dreams. That's why I'm asking you personally to keep a promise that you won't permanently damage him."

Green was slightly taken aback. "Huh, isn't this something. You're a fascinating one Blondie, I'll give you that." She shrugged, "Aww what the hell, I'm in a good mood today. If you kill yourself here and now, I'll promise to not hurt him."

"You have to leave the girls alone to" Naruto replied.

Green shook her head. "uh uh uh, don't push your luck kid."

"Fine, at least I can help one of my teammates." Naruto lifted the kunai up.

For the first time that Naruto could remember he saw Sasuke actually panic. Sasuke violently struggled to get free as he started to angrily yell at Naruto. "GODDAMN IT NARUTO, DON'T DO IT! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO STUPID?!"

Naruto gave Sasuke a sad smile. "My dream… my life goal was to be Hokage, to be the best ninja of all of Konoha. That way everyone in the village would accept me. But I wouldn't ever deserve the title of Hokage if I just stand by and watch someone hurt one of my teammates when I could have done something." Naruto gave Sasuke a wide grin. "You just promise me you'll get out of Kiri and kill whoever that bastard is you're looking for."

Sasuke didn't say anything as he fell still again. All he gave was the slightest of nods.

Green sighed, "Any time now Blondie. I'm getting bored here."

The smile faded from Naruto's face. He closed his eyes as he gripped the kunai tighter. He tensed his muscles as he readied himself to stab himself in the chest. His natural survival instincts screamed for him to stop, that what he was doing was wrong. It didn't matter though. He had already made a deal.

And Naruto Uzumaki never goes back on his word.

Bracing himself, he thrust the kunai inwards. Just as the tip of the kunai was about to penetrate skin, he stopped when he heard a familiar voice call out to him.

"Naruto STOP!"

He looked up and standing there was Kakashi-sensei.

He wasn't alone though. In front of him he had a kunai to Orange's throat. Orange had her arms tied behind her back with some rope. Both ninja looked like they had seen better days. Their clothes were tattered, burnt and torn. Both had various wounds, some bleeding, some not. Kakashi in particular looked tired. His headband was even covering his Sharingan, signifying that he must have been at his chakra limit.

Kakashi's calm voice broke the silence again. "Naruto, put down the kunai."

Naruto looked down and saw that his hand holding the kunai was shaking. He let go of it, letting it fall to the ground.

Kakashi nodded his head and then looked at Green. "I'll make this simple for you, if you hurt my student, I'm going to kill your comrade."

Green shrugged, "Go ahead, see if I care. That ugly bitch has always been jealous of my beauty anyways."

Kakashi glared at her. "I doubt you care that little about your teammate."

Green let out a giggle. "Hardly, she and everyone else on my squad think I'm insane. In reality they are mistaking insanity for genius. I'm on the verge of perfecting one of the most dangerous water jutsus ever!" She flicked some of her hair behind her shoulder. "I'm almost as smart as I am beautiful!"

"I don't think you're very smart" Kakashi remarked.

"Why do you say that?" Green scoffed.

"Cause you're not very aware of your surroundings" spoke a voice behind Green.

Out of muscle memory, Green flinched to the side. By doing so she kept her head as a giant sword came swinging towards her from behind. Unfortunately for her, it didn't save her arm that was holding the shuriken to the back of Sasuke's neck from being lobbed off.

She screamed out as she jumped away, creating some distance between her and the Demon of the Mist. The arm had been severed at the elbow.

Zabuza stood their breathing heavily. Like Kakashi, it looked like he was at his limits.

"You son of a bitch! That was my favorite arm!" Green spat out at him.

Sasuke hurried and got to his feet. He stretched out the arm that been pinned behind his back, loosening it out.

Green stood there breathing angrily. "You know what? I'm going to show you the Jutsu that makes me the most dangerous ninja of Lord Yagura's Hunter squad!"

Before anyone could react, she wove some hand signs with her remaining hand and slammed the palm to the ground. Water rose up and started to gather in a large; pumpkin sized orb in front of her. The water seemed to struggle as it was condensing in on itself. The orb looked rough and misshaped, obvious signs that the Jutsu was not perfect.

Green spoke up as the water took shape. "The most famous powerful elemental Ninjutsus have commonly be attributed to kekkei genkai that combines two different elements. I however, disagree with that. I think the most powerful elemental jutsus are the ones that take an element to its black state."

"Taking an element to a black state is very rare indeed. The only well-known one right now is Kumo's Black Lightning Jutsu. That jutsu has enough electrical energy that it's capable of killing a whole group of opponents near instantly. If you really dig into classified documents, there's also a rumor that a certain missing-nin from Konoha is capable of producing black flames so hot that they are inextinguishable."

The struggling orb of water in front of Green started to darken.

"I hypothesized that maybe I could create a water based jutsu in its black state."

The orb of water turned black.

"I was right."

She stood tall as the dark orb warped and waved in front of her. "Some folks say I was insane for trying creating such a dangerous jutsu, that I was hurting myself every time I tried to perfect it. Again, I disagree. After years of experimenting, I think I created something beautiful! Every time I failed and it backfired on me, it didn't hurt me, it marked me with it's beauty!" She reached up and removed her mask.

Every ninja watching her flinched.

Her face… didn't look like a face. It looked like a dead corpse that had been left on a battlefield for too long. One of her eyes was milky white. Her nose was gone, leaving two slits where her nostrils had been. There was barely any skin left clinging onto her face, it was mostly pink and red flesh. There was some holes in her cheeks that showed her back molars. She gave an insane grin to the group. "Don't you all think I'm beautiful?!" She put her hand in a fist facing the group. "Suiton: Kurohogeki no Jutsu!"

The black orb of water exploded outwards towards the group of ninja. Apple sized balls of black water were sent sailing through the air towards the group.

"Don't let any of that hit you!" yelled Blue. As he started to dodge the projectiles.

Zabuza put his sword in front of him and he stood sideways behind it. He felt it clang as it was pelted.

Kakashi knew he wasn't in a physical condition to dodge anything. As much as he disliked doing it, he used Orange as a shield. Orange screamed out "Please don't let me die like this- AHHHHH!" Kakashi felt her jerk as she was hit a few times by the projectiles. She continued screaming as he watched black water drip off of her. Everywhere the water was touching her skin, her flesh seemed to … melt? Flesh turned to liquid as Orange fell silent. Chunks of her were now missing exposing bone underneath. She was dead.

Sasuke found himself able to dodge. Like earlier with the shuriken, he was able to predict where each projectile was going to hit and effectively dodge it.

Naruto for his part was responsible for saving himself and the girls. Thinking quick, he had quickly summoned a group of clones to cover himself and the prone Sakura and Haku. Most of them got pelted and were dispelled.

Once the barrage stopped, Zabuza readied himself. "Quick, attack her before she can do that again!" Green wove some hand signs and started to gather an orb of water in front of her again.

Before he could move, Blue called out to him to stop him. "Wait! Watch where you're stepping!"

Zabuza looked down and saw mini black puddles everywhere around the battlefield. He watched as the black water liquefied any grass or vegetation that it was in contact with. "What the hell is this stuff?"

Blue responded, "The black water breaks down any organic material through complete hydrolysis."

Naruto scratched his head, "umm what does that mean?"

Zabuza answered, "It means that it will turn you into a puddle kid."

Blue nodded, "That's right, and now that the battle field is covered with it we'll have a harder and harder time dodging or attacking her without stepping in it. I've seen her kill people with it time and time again. The main drawback is that it takes a lot of chakra out of her. She can use it two more times. If any of you can survive that, then you'll be able to kill her." He sighed. "But don't get your hopes up. I've never seen anyone survive the third bombardment. Eventually the water pools up on the battlefield and becomes inescapable."

Kakashi dropped the lifeless body in front of him. "Then our best chance will be to attack her now."

"I'll do it." Sasuke spoke up. The group looked at him. "None of you look like you're in a condition to attack and dodge at the same time. Green mentioned earlier that I had grew into my eyes… tell me if I'm wrong but I'm guessing she meant that I activated my Sharingan?"

Kakashi finally noticed that his student's eyes had turned red with a single tomoe. "Ya looks like it. Congratulations, but you're not attacking her alone just because you have the Sharingan now."

"We're wasting time arguing." Sasuke countered.

"He's right." Blue spoke up to Kakashi. "I hate to admit it, but all of us adults won't be of use attacking her. You and Momochi would die because you're too injured to attack and dodge at the same time. My legs are fine so I might be able to dodge, but I won't be of much use in a fight with a broken collarbone." Blue turned to look at Naruto, "however I don't think that the Uchiha will have to attack alone."

Naruto punched a fist into his hand. "Ya! Let me get in there and I'll kick her ass!"

Blue carefully walked over and crouched down so he was mask to face with Naruto. "Kid you'll die if you attack her right now. Why aren't you all crazy like you were when you fought me after Haku got hurt?" Blue asked.

"I don't know! Like I said earlier I just got super angry and then it happened" Naruto responded.

"Aren't you angry now?!" Blue sounded irritated.

"Ya, I'm pissed! Now let me by so I can go kick her ass!"

"No I don't think you get it." Blue leaned in closer to Naruto. "Let me put this into perspective, she is going to kill us all including those two defenseless girls over there." He said pointing towards the prone bodies of Haku and Sakura. "Those girls will never even know what happened."

"I know!" Naruto yelled feeling his anger starting to swell.

"Do you?! Right now you are their only hope. Green over there sees you as some punk kid not even worth her time. Her focus will be on your Uchiha teammate who is going to attack her all alone. He must be a much better ninja than you!"

"Shut your damn mouth!" Naruto clenched his fists tightly, feeling his anger rise.

"What are you going to do about it kid? I BET YOU'RE JUST A LOUDMOUTHED BRAT THAT'S JUST ALL TALK. YOU CAN"T SAVE YOURSELF AND YOU CAN'T SAVE SAKUR-" Blue was interrupted when Naruto knocked him backwards with punch. He sat back up on his elbows and saw an eerie red glow around Naruto, who was taking in ragged breaths with his head down.

Kakashi cut in, sensing malevolent chakra again "that's enough!"

Blue smiled under his mask. "So kid, you said earlier you were going to kick Green's ass. Was that all talk?"

Naruto looked up at Blue with red eyes. With a low growl he responded, **"I never go back on my word!"** Naruto turned towards Sasuke with feral features. **"I'm going to go rip her other arm off! You coming or what?"**

Sasuke smiled "Ya, just try not to get in my way Dobe."

Kakashi didn't like this at all… but Blue was right, what choice did they have? "Be careful boys."

The orb in front of Green had already turned black again. Her voice called out into the clearing, "Suiton: Kurohogeki no Jutsu!"

Naruto and Sasuke rushed forward into the coming bombardment.

* * *

Upon seeing the approaching black mass of water, Kakashi made his way over to Sakura as quick as he could. He didn't know what he would do, but he'd make sure she lived through the bombardment. He was soon joined by Zabuza and Blue who also took a defensive stance around the girls.

Zabuza took point and started to bat the water projectiles away. He quickly realized that was a bad idea, as the water splashed around his sword and dotted the group with droplets that ate at their skin. "Anyone have any ideas?!" He grunted with pain as some of the water ran down his sword handle and came in contact with his hands. He was forced to drop the blade.

Kakashi and Blue had taken off their flak jackets and were holding them in their hands as a shield. It didn't work for long though, as the water saturated the flak jackets. They was forced to drop them when they felt the moisture eating away at their skin.

Kakashi didn't have anything left in the tank to make an earth wall or any other defensive jutsu so he did the next best thing he could think of. He threw his body over Sakura to shield her and waited for the end.

Zabuza closed his eyes. They were screwed and he knew it. Seconds ticked by but nothing happened. He still heard the commotion of the jutsu, but he didn't feel any pain. In fact, all he felt was… cold? He cracked one of his eyes open and saw a sparkling wall of ice in front of the group."Haku…" he whispered. He turned wide eyed and looked behind him. There on the ground, Haku was sitting up the best she could forming a shaky hand sign. She soon collapsed backwards but the ice wall remained standing.

"That's some kid you got there" Blue spoke up to Zabuza. "But we're not out of the woods yet. Soon the water will pile up around us and those puddles will start to expand until we're trapped in them." Sure enough, black water started creeping around the sides of the ice wall on the ground. The puddles behind the group were also starting to expand.

Kakashi sat up straight and thought for a moment. "Hmm I think I have an idea…"

* * *

Naruto initially gained more ground due to his increased speed. However, once the projectiles started coming in thick, Sasuke caught up. Naruto dodged by making abrupt stops and turns. Sasuke on the other hand was more graceful. He could keep moving forward by just barely dodging the projectiles, using his Sharingan to guide his movements. No motion was wasted.

Naruto didn't have such a luxury. He accidentally stepped into a black water puddle which splashed all over his foot. He yelled out as the water stripped some flesh off of his foot and caused him to tumble. When he fell, he rolled through some more water that caused his body to be dotted with wet spots. He cried out more as he stood himself back up.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out, bringing himself to a stop.

" **Don't worry about me Teme, nothing is going to stop me from tearing her apart!"** Sasuke was amazed when Naruto started running forward again. He noticed that as Naruto ran, the spots that had been stripped of flesh were healing rapidly. The red chakra around Naruto seemed to swirl around the injured areas, feeding the healing process.

Now Naruto wasn't even taking the time to dodge everything coming his way. He was tanking hit after hit. Any damaged flesh was quickly being repaired.

Sasuke smiled again and continued forward. _'Well Dobe, there's more to you than I thought.'_

The boys neared Green as her jutsu ended. "How the hell are you two alive?!" she panted.

Naruto came flying in first. He looked like a real monster with his feral appearance and missing pieces of flesh all over his body. He threw a haymaker which she tried to block with her arm. The surprising force behind the punch made her skid back. Sasuke came in next. She threw a kick at his head. Just in time, Sasuke ducked under and skid on his knee to deliver an elbow to the side of her knee on her pivoting leg.

Green tumbled to the ground. She flipped back up and created some distance between her and Sasuke. She quickly ran through some one handed hand signs. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" A giant vortex of water gathered itself together and rushed towards Sasuke.

Naruto quickly rushed in front of Sasuke and ran towards the vortex. He jumped in front of it and let out a loud feral scream. An invisible force came from Naruto and rammed into the vortex, stopping it in its tracks.

Sasuke jumped up in the air beside Naruto and grabbed onto his arm. Still in midair, Naruto spun and hurled Sasuke at Green with an incredible force. Sasuke stuck out his leg and nailed Green in the gut. Her eyes seemed to bulge and her body skipped across the battlefield away from the area affected by the black water.

Green quickly collected herself and got to her feet breathing heavily. "DAMN BRATS! I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" She ran towards Sasuke. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Naruto incoming fast. Suddenly, she stopped and turned, kicking her heel into Naruto and sending him flying away. Sasuke tried to take advantage of the distraction by throwing a punch at her back. Green turned and ducked under to punch to plant an elbow in Sasuke's gut. She then grabbed him by the hair and violently threw him at Naruto, who had been incoming again.

The two boys tumbled for a bit before coming to a stop. Green tried to press the attack, but stopped short when Sasuke threw down some smoke bombs. Everything was still for a moment before a group of Narutos came flying out of the smoke towards her.

Despite being down an arm, she expertly disposed of them as they came. They tried to overrun her and pin her down, but she created distance every time it started to become too much. She went to chop one of the Narutos in the head when it suddenly ducked and lashed out with a fist to hit her in the side of the knee again where Sasuke had elbowed her earlier.

Her mutilated face winced in pain as her leg gave out and she fell to a knee. A pair of arms wrapped around her neck, holding her in place. She tried to break free, but it was the real Naruto holding on tight. " **Do it now Sasuke!** "

Green looked over at the Naruto that had just struck her knee and watched as it transformed into the Uchiha. Sasuke wove some hand signs before inhaling deeply and saying "Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!"

The Dragon Flame Jutsu poured into her face at point blank range.

The stream of flame parted into many tendrils of fire off of her head. Naruto let out a yell as the flames burnt his arms. He could only hold on for a few seconds before he had to let go and jump back away from the fire.

Sasuke continued to blow out as much fire as he could before he had to stop and inhale.

The boys couldn't see Green's face. All that was left was crispy layer of burnt flesh where her face should have been.

Green was dead.

The burnt body fell forward.

The boys stood there breathing hard for a moment without speaking.

Sasuke turned his attention to Naruto when he heard him speak up. "Sasuke, my arms… they're not healing." It was true, Naruto's arms were covered with burns. In fact, Naruto didn't look good at all. He had lost his feral appearance and the surrounding red chakra was gone. Naruto was sweating and his skin looked ghostly pale. Sasuke rushed forward and caught Naruto as he slumped forward passed out.

* * *

Sakura jolted awake. She felt confused as she tried to take in her surroundings. The last thing she remembered was that she was drowning and Sasuke had punched her in the face. She rubbed her cheek which felt sore.

Everything started to come into focus. She felt something warm and tough holding her up. It felt so comfortable that she was half tempted to keep laying there with her eyes closed. As her vision cleared she realized that it was Kakashi-sensei that was holding her in his arms.

And that he didn't have a shirt on…

Or pants….

He eye smiled down at her. "Welcome back."

She screeched and started waving her arms around to get away from him. He held on tighter, "Woah! Easy there. You probably don't want to be moving around right now."

Then she felt her hand hit another warm body.

Looking over, she saw that Blue and Zabuza were also standing VERY close to her and Kakashi. There was just one problem.

Neither of them had pants or shirts on either.

And her hand was now touching Zabuza's very muscular back.

Sakura quickly withdrew her hand and squealed again as she felt blood rush to her cheeks.

"Kakashi, can you please tell your brat to shut up?" sounded an irritated Zabuza.

"Now Sakura you just have to remain calm and-"

"REMAIN CALM?!" Sakura interrupted Kakashi. "Why am I being surrounded by three naked guys?!"

Kakashi chuckled "Well first off, we're not naked. All three of us still have our briefs and masks on. Secondly, Zabuza is holding Haku so you're actually surrounded by 3 SEMI-naked guys and one fully dressed girl."

Sakura gave Kakashi an irritated look.

Kakashi continued, "Third, the reason I'm holding you and the reason we are all crammed in tight is because we are currently surrounded by a massive pool of black liquid death that will turn you into goo on contact."

Sakura looked around and took in her surroundings. All the vegetation around them was gone. Instead, they were surrounded by a shallow pool of very dark water on the ground. She wondered why they themselves weren't standing in it but received her answer when she looked down. A tiny ring of clothes on the ground formed a barrier between the ninja and the dark water. The clothes looked soaked, but they kept the shallow water away from their feet.

Suddenly, all the dark water shimmered and slowly turned into regular clear water. Hesitantly, Blue reached down and touched a fingertip to the water's surface. Nothing happened. "Well I'll be damned Kakashi, it looks like your boys managed to pull it off!"

Kakashi felt a wave of relief rush over him. "Ya they're really something." He stepped out into the water and set Sakura down. He turned to Blue, "By the way, not to be rude or anything but who are you? Do you and Zabuza know each other or something?"

Zabuza turned around as well to face Blue. "Ya I was wondering that too. Why shouldn't we kill you here and now for working for Yagura?"

Blue answered them. "Good question, let me officially introduce myself". He reached up and removed his hunter mask. He revealed himself to be a middle aged man with an eye-patch and blue hair that came up to a point. "My name is Ao and I'm with the Kiri resistance. Zabuza, you and I need to have a long talk."

* * *

Extra:

 _Shortly after the 3_ _rd_ _ninja war_

Zakaza sat in a chair as the Master laid out some paper in front of him. The Master walked around the table and took a seat next to him. The Master spoke up with a low raspy voice. "Before we go out back into the world and start getting other people involved with our plans, I need to teach you about Blood contracts."

"Oh I think I know about those!" Zakaza responded eagerly. "Isn't that when a ninja signs a contract with a summoning beast?"

The Master scoffed with a wave of his hand. "That's not a real Blood contract. Back in my day we just called those Summoning contracts. I don't know why some people started called them Blood contracts. Probably just because it sounded cool and they think the name applied since you sign the Summoning contract with blood."

The Master took two pieces of paper and placed them on top of one another. "Now you need to pay attention. The only person alive today that knows how to make a true Blood contract is me, so this is very valuable information. Let me suggest a situation to you and you tell me what you would do. One day, you're walking down the street hungry. A stranger approaches you and says if you give him money, he'll go back to his house and get an apple for you. You agree, so you give him some money. Now, how do you guarantee that he'll actually go back to his house to get the apple for you?"

Zakaza thought for a moment. "Well I could follow him?"

The Master nodded, "that could work but that's still not a guarantee. So many things could happen. He could escape, he could get you in a back alleyway and mug you for even more money, or he could just agree to go to jail for fraud. No matter what, any of those outcomes I just outlined results in you not getting your apple."

Zakaza nodded. "Well… if I really wanted that apple I suppose I could do something extreme like kidnap his family and hold them hostage until I got my apple?"

The Master nodded again, "yes but there are still flaws with that plan. Maybe the stranger doesn't have a family. Maybe he does but he doesn't care what you do to them because he values the apple more than them. No matter what, there are still situations where he doesn't actually have to give you the apple."

The Master continued "the other issue is that your answers require you to do extra work beyond giving him the pre-agreed upon money. You shouldn't have to follow him or threaten his family to get what you want. You should be able to just pay him the money and then get your apple."

The Master motioned towards the two papers. "A Blood contract is the only way I know of to guarantee that someone will fulfill their end of a deal. You write a deal on the contract and then both of you have to sign it with your blood of your own free will and choice. The top piece of paper transfers the information onto the bottom piece of paper so each of you have a copy of the agreement. You can write any kind of deal with all kinds of stipulations, but the important thing to remember is that all parties have to sign the contract voluntarily. You can't literally take someone's hand, dip a pen in their blood, and force them to sign it. The contract won't work like that."

"Once all parties have signed it, a predrawn seal will be activated on the documents. Once that seal is active, everyone who signed the document has to do what is written down or the seal will kill them."

"Kill them?" Zakaza repeated.

"Yes child, kill them. The seal rips their soul out of their bodies. Death is unavoidable."

"Is there any other way out of the contract?" Zakaza questioned.

"The only way out of it is for all the contract papers to be burned with fire." The Master replied. "So long as one of the contracts exist on a piece of paper, the seal remains active for all participants. I'll teach you more about how Blood contracts work as we go along, but for now, I need to teach you how to draw the seal. We have a lot of documents to prepare before we head out to the world again."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **So I've been creating some new jutsus as we've gone along in this story. I'm going to try to start putting the English translation for them down in the Author Notes. In most cases I'll probably not put a description because I describe what's going on in the actual story. Also, I don't know Japanese so I'm going to work the best I can with the good old Google translate. So with that being said…**

 **Suiton: Kurohogeki no Jutsu = Water style: Dark Bombardment Jutsu**

 **Hopefully you all liked the whole taking an element to its black state thing. I always thought that Amaterasu and the Black Lightning jutsus were awesome. Then I had the thought of** _ **'Hmm well they're both black and powerful… Maybe that could apply to other elements as well?'**_

 **Anyways, enough with the small talk. Let's get to real reason why you're here:**

 **Question:**

 **Can Ino perform her mind transfer jutsu on a shadow clone? If so, what happens to her if that clone pops out of existence? Does her mind "essence" transfer back to the real Naruto like the clone's thoughts and experiences would? Or does her mind go to a clone afterlife where thousands of Naruto clones are living happily ever after; eating out of a bottomless bowl of ramen?**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Road Home

The group of weary ninja slowly made their way back to Tazuna's house. Kakashi lead the way, taking long staggered steps. His eyes were looking down at his hands as he wrote out a note. Behind him, Ao had thrown Naruto over his shoulder with his one good arm while Sasuke and Sakura walked to his sides. Zabuza kept his distance, trailing behind the group while carrying Haku.

When the house came into view, Tsunami and a few other villagers came running towards them. Tazuna himself was absent, as Kakashi had advised him to leave for a few days until the ninja conflict had been resolved.

"Are you all ok? Why is Naruto over that man's shoulder?" Tsunami spoke as she slowed down to a jog in front of them. She came to a sudden stop as she saw Zabuza a ways back following the group. She was hit with a sudden bout of fright. She hadn't seen the swordsman before but she recognized him as the missing-nin assassin based on Tazuna's description of the ninja's previous fight. She stopped and pointed at Zabuza, "W-what's he doing here?!"

Kakashi looked at Tsunami. "I'll explain later but first we have to get a doctor here quickly. Who is the fasted runner here?"

A young skinny boy standing off to Tsunami's side raised his hand.

"Ah perfect." Kakashi handed the boy a folded note. "Please go attach this note onto a messenger bird and send it to the nearest Konoha outpost."

The boy nodded and ran back towards the village.

Kakashi stood silent, watching the boy until he disappeared from view. Once the boy was gone, Kakashi once again addressed the group of villagers. "It's complicated but Zabuza is not trying to kill Tazuna anymore. My new friend here", Kakashi motioned towards Ao, "also helped us out when a group of hostile ninja unexpectedly showed up."

Ao gave a slight bow of his head to the group. "Please, call me Ao."

Kakashi gave an eye smile. "If you would be willing, several of us are injured and need to rest."

Tsunami nodded, "of course…" She still looked apprehensive towards Zabuza, who at this point, had caught up to the group.

Kakashi reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. "Really it's ok. They won't hurt anyone."

Tsunami gave another nod and turned to the villager group. "Quick come with me and we'll get some beds ready."

The villagers left back the way they had came. When they were out of ear shot, Kakashi turned his head to the side to address Ao and Zabuza. "I really do hope that our recent battle has established enough comradery between us that, at the very least, neither of you will hurt my students or any of those villagers." Kakashi turned around so he could make the next statement face to face. "But just so we're clear, that message I just sent out to the Konoha outpost also contains both of your names. If either of you do something stupid, Konoha will know. You'll have a lot more to worry about than some Kiri Hunter squads." It felt like more of a warning than a direct threat.

Zabuza just responded with a grunt. Ao looked mildly surprised but the look soon vanished as he responded, "noted, but I'm not here to attack kids and villagers."

Kakashi nodded and then turned around and started to walk back to the village.

The villagers set the ninja up in an empty building. Beds and chairs had been hastily moved into several rooms. Haku and Naruto, who were the most injured, were quickly placed onto beds with clean sheets. Each ninja had their own room available, but Team Seven choose to stay with Naruto while Zabuza and Ao sat in Haku's room. The villagers brought basic medical supplies for them to use, but the group needed a real doctor.

Sakura finished wrapping Naruto's arms with bandages and basic burn ointment. The burns looked… bad. All the arm flesh was red and blistered. They were second degree burns at the very least. Sakura was worried. Naruto hadn't made any signs of consciousness.

She looked around the room. Naruto was the worst off, but all of Team 7 had been scathed. Kakashi was currently slumped in a chair asleep, likely due to chakra exhaustion. Sasuke had his hands clasped together, resting his chin on them. Both look battered and bruised with blood stains on their clothing. Sakura on the other hand looked… normal. She wasn't battered and bruised like the rest of the team.

Sakura felt a stab of shame. This has been the team's third real fight with enemy ninja and yet again she hadn't done anything to significantly contribute to their victory. She should have been dirty, bloodied, and bruised like the boys. Instead she was the neat and clean little girl. Sakura clenched her fist as she took a seat in the room.

Part of her shame wasn't just that she was useless to the fight, but on top of that she had weighed her team down. They had to take the time to rescue her or protect her when she was unconscious. She had never felt so helpless in her life as when she was caught up in that genjutsu which made her feel like she was drowning.

She glanced over at Sasuke, who was staring a hole into the floor. No wonder he showed no interest in her. A guy like Sasuke wouldn't be interested in some dainty little girl. It would take a real kunoichi to catch his eye.

Maybe that was part of the problem. She spent so much time focusing on Sasuke that she had forgotten to find her own nindo. Why was she a ninja?

She left to prepare more bandages for later.

* * *

Ao and Zabuza sat in silence. Ao had fashioned for himself a makeshift sling to support his arm with the broken collar bone. That, combined with the pain killers he took made the pain tolerable. It had been a while and it was obvious at this point that Zabuza would not be initiating conversation anytime soon.

"You should really get some burn ointment on your chest and back", Ao spoke up motioning towards the electrical burns on Zabuza's chest and back.

"I'm fine." Zabuza grunted.

"Suit yourself." Ao leaned back in his chair. "At some point we need to talk about you joining up with the resistance... but that can wait until the girl has stabilized."

"You might as well get talking." Zabuza muttered.

Ao nodded. "Right, well I'll keep this short. We want to recruit you to become a member of the resistance. You're a strong ninja, and having one of the Seven Swordsmen support our cause would help troop morale."

"I'm also a missing-nin." Zabuza stated.

"Right, but that's only because you opposed Yagura. If you join us and we are successful in taking over the government, you'll have your status restored in the village." Ao replied.

"Who is the resistance leader?" Zabuza asked.

"I can't tell you that now but rest assured that our leader is a very capable ninja." Ao replied.

"Capable of taking on Yagura?" Zabuza scoffed.

Ao shrugged. "I doubt that our leader could take on Yagura directly, but I'm sure they'd be able to hold their ground in a fight with him. I think that's good enough, considering that there aren't many ninja that could directly challenge a perfect jinchuriki."

Zabuza shook his head. "If you want to take his government you'll have to be able to kill him."

"We'll cross that path when we get there." Ao responded. "The fact of the matter is that our chance of victory increases if you join us. It's well known that you've been wanting to fund your own rebellion. Why not join ours?"

"You're asking me to follow someone whose name I don't know. Who's to say that I'm not just trading Yagura for someone worse?" Zabuza questioned.

Ao laughed, "You think it can get worse than Yagura?"

Even Zabuza chuckled at that. "You're right. Maybe I got hit in the head too hard."

"Well you don't have to decide now. Come back to the Mist with me and you'll meet our leader face to face. We can of course wait until the girl is healed enough to travel." Ao stated.

"It doesn't matter. We can leave whenever. I'm not taking her with me." Said Zabuza.

Ao gave a look of surprise. "Why not?"

"Cause she has proven herself useless. I molded her to be a tool for my use. I told her not to let her emotions get in the way of carrying out my orders. Next thing I know, she decided to take a kunai to the stomach for the orange brat!" Zabuza spat out angrily.

Silence hung in the air for a moment. Unexpectedly, Ao started to laugh. Zabuza gave him a scowl.

Ao stood up and patted Zabuza on the shoulder. "I know you're one tough badass but I've been through some wars myself. No matter how many comrades you see die, you can't ever stop bonding with your teammates." Ao made his way out the door to go check if a doctor was coming soon or not.

After the door shut, Zabuza let out a quiet chuckle to himself. Smiling under his face wrappings, he muttered out loud "no… I suppose not."

* * *

The Doctor ended up arriving late in the night. He was an older man with dark eyebrows and grey hair. He had a masculine look about him with his large stature and grey beard. He was also accompanied by a small red headed … boy? that looked to be around 11 or 12 years old. The Doctor quickly walked up and greeted the group of ninja that had stepped outside Haku's and Naruto's rooms.

"Greetings, my name is Dr. Shinno and this here is Amaru." The Doctor said motioning towards his companion. "I heard that you had some urgent patients. Please show them to me."

Ao turned to Kakashi. "I know your boy in there is hurt but I think Haku is in need of more immediate medical attention. I know she's not from Konoha but…"

Kakashi raised a hand to cut him off. "It's fine. Please Doctor, see to the girl first."

Ao opened the door and lead Shinno and Amaru into Haku's room. Shinno immediately placed his bag on the end of the bed and started to get out tools. Without looking at the others, the Doctor spoke up. "I need you all to give me and my assistant the room."

Sakura stepped forward. "Please sir can I stay in and observe? I promise not to get in the way. I did the stitches so I might be able to help."

The Doctor looked over long enough to give a quick nod. Everyone left the room and Sakura shut the door.

While the Doctor was readying various injections, Amaru drew back the sheets and lifted up Haku's shirt enough to expose her midriff. The skin around the stitches looked red and swollen.

"What did you use to stitch her insides?" The Doctor suddenly spoke up.

"Umm just normal stitching string." Sakura responded.

The Doctor sighed. "Then we'll need to replace them. Normal stitching string won't dissolve in the body." He pulled a roll of white looking string from his bag. "This is the stuff we need to use."

"Oh… I'm sorry. I didn't know." Sakura responded.

The Doctor gave a warm smile. "Don't worry, you did the best you could with what you had at the time. If you hadn't stitched her, she would have bled out."

At the moment Amaru spoke up for the first time. "Ya we've seen way worse than this."

Sakura gave a small smile at the encouragement.

The Doctor then proceeded to administer some shots around the wound.

Amaru noticed Sakura staring at the procedure. "It's a numbing agent. Otherwise the girl would be in a lot of pain when the Doctor removes the stitches."

"Oh right" Sakura gave a quick nod.

Amaru grabbed Sakura's hand and gave her some tubing with an injection needle. "Here, why don't you help me prepare an IV?"

Sakura grasped the needle. "You got it!"

* * *

Sasuke had decided to wait in Naruto's room while the others waited in the halls.

He closed the door and looked over at his teammate. It looked like he hadn't moved. Sasuke took a seat and folded his arms. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He knew it would be a long night, but he'd try to sleep anyways.

It was futile though. His mind was racing over the events of the day. Everything he thought he had known about dead last Naruto had been turned upside down. Naruto had always been so loud and obnoxious that Sasuke figured that he knew all there was to know about him.

Then out of nowhere Naruto had summoned up ungodly amounts of chakra that felt… evil. Then there was the bit of the Dobe about to kill himself so that Green wouldn't hurt Sasuke. Where the hell had that come from? He and Naruto weren't close. Ever since the "incident" Sasuke had made a point to keep people at a distance. He didn't need anyone or anything distracting him from his ambition of killing….

Him.

The mere thought of his brother caused Sasuke to clench his hands tight. He would get his someday but for now Sasuke had to figure out the mystery that was Naruto.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted as he heard some rustling on the bed. His eyes snapped open as he saw Naruto's eyes lazily open. Naruto looked confused. "W-what's going on?"

"You collapsed after the fight. You're hurt so you were put down to rest." Sasuke replied.

Naruto looked down at his arms which were wrapped from the finger tips to the elbows. "Oh ya…"

Sasuke also glanced at Naruto's arms and shifted uncomfortably. "Listen, I thought you were going to rapidly heal like you had been from that red chakra. If I had known my fire jutsu was going to cause so much damage to your arms I wouldn't have-"

Naruto cut him off. "Is everyone ok?"

"… ya everyone is ok. A Doctor is looking at Haku right now." Sasuke responded.

Naruto let out a deep breath of relief. "Thank goodness."

After a moment of silence Sasuke spoke up. "Did you know Kakashi was coming?"

Naruto looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"When you were about to kill yourself. You were just pretending to buy time because you saw Kakashi coming, right?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto fell silent again for a moment. "No, I didn't know Kakashi was coming."

Sasuke nodded. "Don't do that again. I don't need you sticking your neck out for me."

Naruto scowled. "Hey you dick! Don't ungrateful! Maybe next time I'll-"

Sasuke put up a hand to cut him off. "Shut up for a second! I want to make it clear that I don't want you to do something stupid like dying for me in the future." Sasuke paused for a second before taking a deep breath and continuing. "That being said, I wanted to say thanks. Although I disagree with what you did, if you hadn't done what you had done Green likely would have paralyzed me."

Naruto was taken aback before smiling again. "No problem. I knew I'd have to be saving your sorry ass when I was put on this team."

Sasuke gave a small smile. "Is that why you told Green that I'm a genius and one of the most capable people you've ever met?"

Naruto's smile quickly disappeared. "Hey! Don't let any of that go to your head!"

"Whatever" Sasuke put on his cool demeanor. He stood up on his feet. "I'm going to tell the others that you're awake." He walked to the door and put his hand on the doorknob before stopping and turning his head back to Naruto. "Oh and before I forget, eventually we need to have a team talk about that red chakra you used during the fight. That was… very unexpected."

Naruto nodded as Sasuke stepped outside. Truth be told, Naruto had no idea what he was going to tell the group, but he did have a good guess of where that evil chakra had come from.

It was at that moment that Naruto could have sworn that he heard an echo of malicious laughter in the back of his head.

* * *

Doctor Shinno managed to get Haku stabilized with proper stitches and medicine. One by one he visited each patient. Naruto was given a new cream to rub onto his arms for the burns. Kakashi was given some bandaging for wounds and told to rest for a while. Zabuza was also given burn ointment for his chest and back and required some minimal bandaging. Luckily, Shinno was able to realign Ao's collarbone without having to perform a surgery. Ao was told to keep his arm in a sling until the bone had time enough to properly heal.

All in all everything went smoothly save for an unexpected surprise between Naruto and Amaru. While changing out some bandages, Naruto had asked Sakura to leave the room. Once Sakura had left and shut the door, Naruto had proceeded to try and take off his clothes in front of Shinno and Amaru, figuring that they could help him change while his arms were bandaged.

It was at that moment that everyone learned that Amaru was a girl.

Her face had gone as red as her hair as she covered her eyes and started screaming at Naruto. Poor Naruto who had been caught off guard had let out a squeal of fright in a higher pitch than he would have liked. He stumbled backwards and fell down which ,unfortunately, caused him to let go of his pants.

The ninja outside had thrown open the door, concerned about the screaming they heard. Sakura, who had just walked out the door, had been the closest so she was at the front of the group.

The first thing she saw was a semi-naked Naruto covering himself with his hands while sitting on the floor.

"NARUTOOOOOOO!"

* * *

Haku awoke to the sounds of laughter nearby. Her mind felt foggy as everything came into focus. She licked her lips, which feel dry. The first thing she noticed was an IV hooked into her left arm feeding some sort of clear liquid. She also felt a dull ache in her abdomen. She ran her free hand over the area and felt the stitches, remembering the kunai that had hit her. It was odd that that pain wasn't more intense. Looking at the IV again, she figured there must have been some numbing solution in the mixture.

Hearing the door click, she watched the door to her room open. Zabuza walked in wearing a fresh set of what looked like civilian clothes although his face was still covered with cloth. He shut the door.

"You're awake."

"Yes Master Zabuza."

"Do you remember the fight after getting hit with the kunai?"

Haku thought for a moment. "Yes… parts of it. I was in and out of consciousness."

"We're lucky that both of us made it out of that alive." Zabuza said flatly.

Haku nodded. "Yes Master, we were. I'm sorry I couldn't have been of more help. I am weak and allowed my feelings to get the better of me."

Zabuza sat in a chair next to her bed. "Ya you did."

Haku looked downcast. "Master if you're willing to give me another chance I'll prove my worth to you again. I can help you fulfil your dream."

"Haku…" Zabuza looked her in the eyes. "This recent fight has brought some… perspective. You and I aren't going to be overthrowing the Kiri government any time soon. There's a man in the hallway named Ao that has invited me… us… to join up with the Kiri rebellion. "

"So you think we should join up with them?" Haku asked.

"I think I should join up with them." Zabuza replied.

"… Are you going to abandon me?" Haku asked worried.

"I'm going to give you a choice." Zabuza responded. "I know you feel indebted to me for rescuing you off the streets. Consider that debt paid. I don't know how you did it, but if you hadn't put up that ice wall during our fight with Green, myself and most of the ninja out in that hallway would be dead right now."

"I don't serve you because I feel indebted to you. I serve you because you're precious to me. You're the only one that ever gave me meaning." Haku stated.

"I know" Zabuza said while looking to the side. He wasn't comfortable talking about 'feelings'. "Haku you almost died today. One thing that became abundantly clear to me is that… you're… well... more than just a tool to me." He stood up and placed his hand on top of her head. "You're a good kid with an innocent heart. I know that being a ninja… violence in general has always been difficult for you. I want you to do whatever it is you want to do. If you want to stop being a ninja and do something else with your life, that's fine by me. If you want to continue being a ninja by my side, then that's fine too. I just want you to make the decision for yourself."

Haku thought for a moment. Was Zabuza showing her… affection? This was all new to her. Did she really want to continue being a ninja? It didn't take her long to decide.

"I want to go with you. I don't like violence or hurting others but I need to use my gifts. Pacifism won't stop someone like Yagura." She answered.

"Ok then. We'll go check out these Kiri rebels together then." Zabuza took his hand off Haku's head.

"Yes Master Zabuza" Haku replied.

Zabuza shook his head. "No, it's just Zabuza now. I'm not your master. We're partners in this now."

Haku was shocked again but nodded her head. "Yes Mas-… Yes Zabuza."

* * *

A few days later, Doctor Shinno felt everyone was healed enough that him and Amaru could return to their village. Him and Amaru gathered their stuff and set to leave.

"Now you all need to take it easy for at least one more day. Tomorrow you all may start your journey home so long as you go slow with plenty of stops for rest." Shinno turned towards Haku who had just started walking around today. "Especially you Haku, if you try to do too much you could tear those stitches."

"Understood." Haku acknowledged.

"Now, one more thing before we go. Little Sakura, could you please step forward." Shinno stated to the group.

Sakura took a few steps forward to be in front of him and Amaru. Shinno looked at Amaru and made a gesture with his head. Amaru stepped forward and gave Sakura a pouch. Perplexed, Sakura took the pouch and opened it to view its contents. Inside were various medical supplies and scrolls.

"What's this?" Sakura asked.

"Consider it a gift. There's an assortment of tools in there to treat others in need. I also threw in some scrolls containing ingredient lists for different medicines I've developed over the years. You seemed to catch on quickly when we were doing medical procedures. If you put your mind to it, I'd bet you'd be a fantastic medic someday." Smiled Shinno.

"Ya! You and me, one day we're going to be so good that we'll put Lady Tsunade to shame!" Amaru gave Sakura a big smile.

"Thank you!" Sakura ran forward and gave Amaru a hug. She then bowed to Doctor Shinno. "You are truly a master of your trade."

Shinno smiled, "As much as we'd like to stay, we best be off." With a wave, him and Amaru departed.

* * *

That last night was a loud one. Naruto, upon hearing that the ninja would be departing the next day, spent a good chunk of the night in Haku's room talking to her. Not knowing when he'd get to see her again, he wanted to make the most of their time together. He keep telling her that her goal should be that she become the next Mizukage. That way, they could give each other advice on how to run their villages once Naruto himself became the Hokage. As soft spoken as Haku was, she spent most of the time listening and giggling at Naruto's outlandish comments. It wasn't until Zabuza came into their room and threatened to toss Naruto out the window if he didn't shut up that Naruto decided it was time to go to bed.

The next morning, the two groups made their way to the edge of town to depart to their respective villages. Ao, Zabuza, and Haku standing on one side and Team 7 standing on the other.

Naruto ran over and gave Haku a big hug. Sakura had to step forward and slap him on the back of the head to remind him that Haku was still hurt and he needed to be careful. Miraculously, Naruto had started healing faster than anticipated. His arms weren't bandaged now, showing faintly pink and peeling skin (like a sunburn).

"I'll miss you! Be sure to come visit if you ever come by Konoha!" said Naruto.

Haku gave him a big smile. "Yes. I'd make you the same offer, but I don't think you'd like Kirigakure. At least not right now anyways."

Ao walked up to Kakashi and stuck out his hand. "Thanks for your help. We would have lost without you and your kids.

Kakashi eyed his hand but didn't accept it. "The only reason my students were involved is because of you. Black was going to let us wander off until you told him not to. Don't think I've forgotten that."

Everything seemed to go silent as the situation tensed. Ao put his hand down. "I'm sorry for involving you but I had no choice. The Hunter-nin squad would have killed Zabuza and Haku if they had fought alone."

Ao waited for a reply but Kakashi didn't say anything. Ao decided that his and Kakashi's issues would not be resolved today. "Regardless of your feelings on the situation, I'll be sure to communicate to my leader that the Leaf helped us save one of the Seven Swordsmen and the last member of the Yuki clan. Our leader is a pretty strong ninja. Who knows, maybe she'll actually be Mizukage someday and will return the favor."

"She?" Asked Kakashi.

Ao's face went pale. "I'm going to get on the road now." He faced the Team 7 teenagers. "See ya brats. Hope you'll forgive me for roughing you up a bit."

"Screw you!" Naruto shouted.

Ao smiled and started to walk away. Zabuza spoke up next. "Haku, I want you to go with Ao. I'll catch up. I need to talk to Kakashi alone."

"Ok Zabuza." Haku turned towards the Team 7 Genin. "I'm glad that this conflict ended with us being allies. I'll see you again some day!" She gave a wave.

"See you later Haku!" sounded Naruto.

"Bye Haku" waved Sakura.

Sasuke didn't say anything.

Kakashi turned to his team. "You all go on ahead." The Genin set out on the road back towards Konoha. Kakashi faced Zabuza. "You wanted to talk?"

Zabuza nodded. "What are you going to tell people about our fight?"

Kakashi mused for a second. "Hmm I don't know. What should I tell them?"

"That if we had been one on one I would have beat you. I do have a reputation to uphold." Zabuza stated.

Kakashi put his hand on his chin as if thinking. "But weren't you the one that left the battle with kunai stuck all over your body?"

Zabuza shook his head. "Face it, if your brats hadn't rescued you from my water prison jutsu, I would have won."

"Maybe, but I am the Copy-nin. Supposedly I know over 1,000 jutsu. Maybe one of those would have got me out of that?" Kakashi shrugged.

"I think your full of shit." Zabuza smiled under his mask.

"How about a draw then?" Kakashi stuck out his hand.

Zabuza stared hard at the hand. "Fine." Zabuza took it and shook it. "But next time we meet; I want a rematch. I think I figured out how to beat your little Sharingan."

"I guess we'll see." Kakashi let go of the hand and turned to walk away.

"Ya, I guess we'll see" Zabuza echoed.

* * *

Tsunami's thoughts were interrupted as Tazuna came crashing into the house. "WHERE ARE THEY?! WHERE ARE THOSE GOOD FOR NOTHING NINJA?!"

Tsunami was startled. "AHH! What?! Why?!"

"HAVE YOU SEEN MY BRIDGE? THEY BLEW IT HALF TO SHIT!" yelled Tazuna.

Tsunami let out a chuckle. "Well look on the bright side, there isn't any ninja hunting you down anymore. Sooooo… are you still going to name it 'The Great Naruto Bridge'?"

"HELL NO!"

* * *

Extra:

 _A few days later_

Doctor Shinno and Amura walked into their small house. They set their bags down with an "umph".

"Man Doctor, I'm beat! I can't wait to sleep in my own bed!"

The Doctor chuckled. "Why don't you prepare some tea first and then we'll head off to-" He stopped short. His face turned deadly serious at he looked at something behind Amaru inside the house. "Amaru I want you to leave the house now."

"What's the matter?" Amaru questioned, starting to feel scared.

Amaru nearly jumped out of her skin when a cool voice sounded behind her.

"Aww now is that any way to treat a guest? Ku ku ku ku ku" snickered the voice behind her.

She turned and saw a pale man with dark hair sitting in a chair. She felt her heart grip with fear. "Y-y-y-y-o-o-o-u-u-u-'re-e-e-e-"

The man smiled and spoke. "The name's Orochimaru."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Ino incoming next chapter! She'll starting playing a role in this story and b a regular character.**

 **Also a quick break from the Zakaza/Mystery-person story in the extra section.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

It had been a couple of days since Team 7 left the Land of Waves. They were now a good ways into the Land of Fire, about a day's journey from Konoha. Everyone in the group was pretty well healed up, save for a scab here or there. Even Naruto's arms were losing their pink hue.

"… YA! And then Green tried to throw a bunch of shuriken at Sasuke, but luckily he activated his Sharingan. He managed to dodge or deflect every single one of them!" During the trip Naruto had been relating to Sakura everything that had happened while she had been passed out during the fight. Sasuke walked in line with them silently with his hands in his pockets.

"His Sharingan?" Sakura turned to Sasuke. "You have the Sharingan now?"

Sasuke gave a short nod. "It's not fully developed yet but ya."

Sakura gave him a smile. "That's great! I knew you could do it! You're the best-" She cut herself off. She reminded herself that she had decided to stop ogling over Sasuke so much. Sure she was DEFINITELY still attracted to him, but she had realized that she needed to grow up. Being a Sasuke fangirl wasn't going to get her anywhere, much less get his attention. She toned down the volume, "Congrats, you deserve it."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow but kept his gaze forward. "Thanks" he muttered. He had noticed Sakura was acting strange the last few days. Just like now, she'd have moments where she'd start to try too hard to get his attention, only to stop short and tone it down. She had become a lot less annoying.

"No problem" She responded.

Kakashi, who had been leading the group while reading one of his books, stopped walking. "Let's take a quick break, we have been walking for a while". He walked over to a few large rocks on the side of the road and took a seat.

The Genin also took a seat and set their packs down.

"Say Kakashi-sensei, how do you walk and read all day without tripping?" asked Naruto.

"Hmm well I suppose I do it like anyone else. One foot in front of the other." Kakashi responded.

"Smart ass, just you wait. Now I'm going to trip you while you're reading!" Naruto threatened.

Kakashi didn't look up or respond for a few seconds. "Hmm, Naruto did you say something?"

Sakura let out a laugh as Naruto let out a barrage of curse words.

Kakashi closed his book and looked at his team. "I actually wanted to talk to you all about something. When we get back I'm thinking about submitting your names for the Chunin exams."

The team hadn't expected that. Even Sasuke was staring intently at their instructor.

Kakashi waited for a response. When he didn't get one, he started to talk again, "that is of course if you all want to-"

"YA! WE'RE GOING TO BECOME CHUNIN!" Naruto cheered. Even Sasuke gave a small smile. Oddly enough, Sakura was frowning.

"Woah hold on a second there Naruto, it's not quite that easy." Kakashi responded. "The Chunin exams have a series of difficult tests to pass. Many teams have to attempt it multiple times before they gain the rank of Chunin. Usually, a team as young as you would not participate, but after this last mission I'd say you're eligible to participate."

Naruto smiled. "I'm not afraid of an exam. I'm going to become a Chunin and then soon enough the Hokage! Believe-"

Sasuke cut it. "Ya we're ready. I'll even make sure that the Dobe makes it through alive."

"Whatever, it'll be me that has to pick up your slack." Naruto grinned. He then turned to Sakura who he had noticed hadn't said anything. "Hey Sakura, what's wrong?"

Sakura had a frown on her face. "Do you all really think I'm ready?"

Naruto responded, "Sure you are Sakura!"

Sakura shook her head. "Thanks Naruto, but you're just being nice. Think about it, did I do anything to help the group in this last fight with the Hunter-nin?"

An awkward silence hung in the air as no one responded.

"Exactly", Sakura continued. "If I'm going to be a part of Team 7, I need to pull my weight. I'm going to start focusing on skills that can help the group." She looked at Kakashi. "Sensei, could you teach me how to break myself and others out of Genjutsu? I don't think any of us know how and I never want to experience that drowning sensation again."

Kakashi gave her a smile with his eyes. He felt proud of her growth. "Sure Sakura. It takes advanced chakra control to break out of Genjutsu but I think I could help you get the basics before the exams. You already have great chakra control for someone your age."

Sakura stopped frowning as her spirits brightened.

Kakashi continued, "I think it would also be worthwhile for you to take a short internship at the hospital when we get back. Doctor Shinno seemed impressed with your ability to catch onto the medical procedures. You wouldn't be able to learn how to heal others with your chakra, but you could at least get a taste of medic basics for a few weeks."

Sakura was smiling now, "that's a great idea! I can become our team's medic."

"So you'll compete in the Chunin exams with us?" Naruto eagerly asked.

Sakura nodded. "Ya, I'm still concerned that I'm not focusing on anything offensive but I'll participate."

Kakashi spoke up again. "Honestly, you'll have pretty full load if you're doing an internship at the hospital and I'm teaching you about Genjutsu… But if you want to train on offense for a few weekends, I think I could call in a favor. I have someone in mind who would be the perfect teacher to help you practice the basics."

Sakura nodded again. "I'll do it. I have some catching up to do if I'm going to be on the same level as these two." She pointed at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Sounds like a plan. I'll get your names submitted so you can participate in the exams." Kakashi stretched his arms. "Well, maybe we should get back on the road."

"Hold on a second." Everyone turned to Sasuke who had spoken. "I have something to bring up." Sasuke turned to Naruto. "I want to know about that red chakra." Kakashi visibly tensed.

Naruto's smile vanished. "Uhh ya… I'm not sure what that was."

Sasuke shook his head. "You're lying. If you didn't know what that was then you would be bombarding Kakashi with questions."

"Ya Naruto, I'm curious too" Sakura spoke up.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Umm I'm not sure how to explain it. Probably a conversation for another time."

"Naruto, we're your teammates. You can trust us." Sakura responded.

"I agree, I think we should have this conversation another time." Kakashi spoke up trying to cover for Naruto. "We really should get walking again."

Sasuke glared at his teacher. "You know too, don't you?"

"Sasuke we really shouldn't be having this conversation." Kakashi started talking in a more serious tone.

"Really?" Sasuke crossed his arms. "I watched Naruto turn into something that wasn't him. I felt the energy that came off of him. It wasn't his. You don't think we should all know what going on?"

"I'm sorry." Naruto spoke, a sadden expression on his face. "I know you're my teammates but... if I tell you what's going on I think you'll hate me."

"Besides", Kakashi followed up, "he legally isn't allowed to tell you two. It's classified information. Let's just drop the subject and you two forget what you saw. Don't talk to anyone else about it."

"That's bullshit." Spat Sasuke.

"Drop it Sasuke." Said Kakashi firmly.

"Whatever." Sasuke grabbed his pack and started walking up the road, clearly irritated.

Kakashi sighed and pulled out his book and stood. "We better get walking as well."

Sakura and Naruto nodded and stood. As she was putting on her pack, Sakura turned to Naruto. "Hey, I want you to know that you're wrong."

"I know Sakura but I just can't tell you." Naruto replied sadly.

Sakura shook her head. "No, that's not it. You said we might hate you for your secret. Naruto you're my teammate, you risked your life for me and the others." She put her hand on his shoulder. "I care about you, no matter what your secret is."

Naruto gave a sad smile. "Sasuke seems mad."

Sakura gave him a warm smile. "I think Sasuke cares to. He just doesn't know how to show it."

Naruto looked at the hand on his shoulder. "Thanks Sakura. Hey, you know what would really cheer me up? How about we go out on a date?"

"DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA!"

* * *

"Yep, I think I'm going to put you in for the Chunin exams. It'll be good for you." Asuma turned to Shikamaru. "Especially you! The exams will be a good enough challenge to kick your butt into gear!"

Ino felt nervous. "Sensei… are you really, really, really sure you want to put us in the exams?" Ino didn't necessarily feel nervous for herself. She was the top kunoichi of her class after all. No, it was her teammates that concerned her. She loved them but man could they be a pain when completing a mission!

Choji was sweet but had a confidence problem and a bad habit of overeating. More than once his self-doubt had been an obstacle when trying to get something done. She had to give him a lot of encouragement to bring out his A game. That or someone calling him fat… which she didn't like BUT it was a lot more effective.

Then there was Shikamaru. He was brilliant, but getting him to do anything was 'a real drag'. There wasn't an living thing on earth that tried to exert less energy than him. Instead of encouragement, it took hours of nagging for her to bring out Shikamaru's C- game.

Despite their flaws, Ino had grown to love them as close friends. She knew she also had her own flaws that they had to put up with (apparently she had a shopping problem?). They were just one big messed up happy family, the famous Ino-Shika-Cho!

Ino was snapped into reality when Asuma responded to her question. "Ya I'm sure I want to submit your names. You all are welcome to back out if you want to."

Ino thought about it for a second. "Well… maybe it would be good for us. It's not like we HAVE to become Chunin this go around. We'd at least get an idea of what the exam is like." She turned to her teammates. "I vote we do it."

Shikamaru had his hands behind his head staring up at the sky. "Man, that whole exam sounds like a drag. I vote we wait for a different one."

Ino glared at Shikamaru. "You know what? Asuma-sensei is right! You need to get your butt kicked into gear."

Shikamaru glanced at her sideways. "You're being loud Ino." That was a mistake.

"I'LL SHOW YOU LOUD!" Ino ran forward to throttle her lazy teammate. Lucky for him, Choji stepped in at the last minute and grabbed onto Ino, holding her back.

"Don't do it Ino! Shikamaru doesn't know what he's saying!" Choji tried to calm down the struggling blonde.

She finally relented and Choji let her go. If she couldn't strangle Shikamaru, then she'd screw him over another way.

She turned to Choji. "So Choji, it looks like you're the tie breaker. You want to participate in the exams right?"

Choji played with his hands nervously. "I don't know… you think I'm ready?"

She put on a smile. "Definitely."

"Don't do it man." Shikamaru cut it. "My dad talked about it once. Apparently there has been some exams where the Genin weren't allowed to bring any food at all."

Choji's eyes went wide. "Oh no that sounds awful!"

Ino glared daggers at Shikamaru. _'You think you're so smart? Well two can play at that game.'_

Ino gave a dramatic heavy sigh. "Well maybe you two are right. We aren't ready to be in the exams. Dang it, I was so excited that I was going to make some ginger pork tonight and invite you two over for dinner to celebrate. Now I'm so bummed out that I don't feel in the mood to cook…"

Choji's ear twitched. "Did you say ginger pork?"

Shikamaru's eyes went wide. "Choji don't listen to-"

Ino cut him off. "Ya, I've had the meat marinating for over 24 hours. Oh well, I suppose I can just throw it away."

Choji puffed his chest out and punched his fist into his palm. "You know what Ino? I changed my mind. We are ready! We're going to go out there and whoop ass!"

Ino gave a smile and started twisting her hair around her finger innocently. "Oh, you really think so?"

"Ya! Even Shikamaru is going to have a good attitude about it." Choji gave Shikamaru a slap on the back. Choji's facial expression softened. "So Ino… are you still going to throw away that pork?"

"Mmmm I guess not. You two come over to my house tonight and we'll celebrate." Ino smiled.

"YA! You're the best Ino!" Choji cheered.

Shikamaru closed his eyes. "Ugh, Choji should have let you strangle me."

Asuma, who had observed the scene, gave a low chuckle. "Ok, well I'll get your names submitted. We still have a couple of weeks, so we need to meet up and train together every day."

"Aw man…" grumbled Shikamaru.

Asuma took his half-finished cigarette and tossed it aside. "Now then, I have to call it a day early. I have some things I have to get done tonight so you all are free to go."

Ino smirked. "You got another date with Kurenai-sensei?"

Asuma gave her a shocked look. "NO! We haven't ever…"

"Forget it sensei" spoke up Shikamaru. "Every time you ditch your cigarette early, it means you're going to go see Kurenai-sensei."

Choji spoke up next. "Ya, because she scolds you for smoking right?"

Asuma just looked at his team dumbfounded. "Kids now a days" he muttered. He Shunshined away with a puff of smoke.

Ino turned and started to walk away. "Well I'm gong to head home. See you two tonight for dinner."

The three went their separate ways. Now Ino had to figure out how she was going to get some pre-marinated pork… Well, at least she got to stick it to Shikamaru.

She made her way to her favorite place, the shopping district. Oh the joy that buying clothes brought her. Her love for buying clothes was only challenged by her love of gossip. Conveniently enough, the shopping district was also her place for gossip.

It was hard to resist dashing in and out of each store. She was on a schedule and didn't have time to look around today. After a few minutes of walking, she found a food stand and managed to snag a bag full of vegetables and marinated pork. The pork hadn't been marinated for 24 hours, but she had a feeling that Choji wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

She started to head home when she came to a stop by the village gate. Incoming was Team 7 with their packs on. It looked like they were just getting back from a mission.

"Hey you guys!" She ran over to greet them, and more specifically, Sasuke. "So Sasuke, did you just get back from a mission? I bet it was super dangerous, but knowing you it was still probably easy." She put a hand on her hip and gave a wink trying to get his attention.

Sasuke gave a grunt and kept walking.

Ino sighed. One day Sasuke would notice her.

"Tired of throwing out those hips Ino-pig?" Sakura sounded off behind her.

"What Forehead? Are you jealous?" Ino teased.

"Oh ya I'm jealous of the 2 seconds you just spent being ignored by Sasuke." Sakura responded.

"Pft I bet he paid more attention to me for that 2 seconds than he has you for the last two weeks!" Ino fought back.

Naruto stepped in. "Hey Ino back off. Sakura's not trying to get his attention now that she has me for a teammate."

"Shut it Naruto!" Sounded both girls at once.

Naruto nearly fell backwards. He was about to reply when he noticed a box moving around on the street towards him. He squinted at it. "Hold on a sec…." He ran towards it and kicked the box into the air. Underneath was small boy with brown hair.

"Konohamaru what are you doing?" Naruto asked the boy.

"Dang it boss! I thought I could sneak up on you!" Konohamaru responded.

Naruto laughed. "You're going to have to do better than that!" He made a motion with his hand. "Come on let's go over here and talk for a second."

Ino and Sakura watched the two walk a little ways away. "Hmm I was jealous that you were matched up with Sasuke but I guess you also got paired with Naruto. Seems like he hasn't changed."

Sakura stared at the blonde boy. "He isn't as bad as he used to be."

Ino started to laugh. "Ya, good one Forehead."

Sakura shook her head. "I'm serious, there's a lot more to Naruto then you'd think. I mean YA he can still be annoying but I'm glad he's my teammate. He's actually pretty strong."

Ino glanced at Sakura. "Sounds like you're checking out Naruto more than you are Sasuke."

Saukra laughed. "Ya as if!" She folded her arms and took a more serious expression. "Actually I'm not going after Sasuke anymore."

Ino gave her friend a weird look. "You ok Sakura?"

"Ya actually I'm better than ever." Sakura gave Ino a confident smile. "This last mission helped me realize that I need to figure myself out. I can't do that if I spend my time obsessing over Sasuke."

Ino looked at her wide eyed. This was not how she was expecting this conversation to go. "Huh, well Forehead that is a surprise. I'm glad we don't have to fight over him anymore."

"Ya you can have him… for now anyways." Sakura gave Ino a wink. "Who knows, maybe you'll end up liking Naruto once you get to know him a little better?"

Ino laughed until she was nearly crying. She gave her eye a wipe. "Oh man, me and Naruto? AS IF!"

Sakura shrugged. "I'm telling you, he's not the immature boy you remember. He's-"

At that moment the girls watched as him and Konohamaru mouthed something and made a hand signs. Both boys disappeared in a puff of smoke and were replaced by beautiful blonde and brown haired girls. The light seemed to brighten around them as smoke encircled them, covering up their intimate parts. Men all around on the streets started to faint with nosebleeds.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, sat in his office behind mountains of paperwork. He sighed as he stared at all the documents he had to read and sign. It never seemed to end. For now though, he was focused on the task in front of him. He would have to organize the Chunin exams.

He had briefly considered hosting the exams at Konoha. He was sure he could get Sunagakure, Kusagakure and maybe Amegakure to show up along with some other minor villages. That would have been the easiest but he had other concerns to address.

There wasn't much information flowing in and out of Kumogakura and Iwagakure. Konoha wasn't necessarily allied with those nations so it wasn't unusual that they weren't openly talking, but each village made it a point to keep tabs on one another. Lately though, Kumo and Iwa had gone to great efforts to isolate themselves. That was never a good sign. Usually isolation meant that they were stockpiling or preparing for something, usually war. The last thing Hiruzen needed was to live through another ninja war.

He needed to force them out so they would interact. Maybe talking to them face to face would help maintain the peace for a while longer. The Chunin exams were the perfect place for them to meet in a peaceful setting without making it obvious what Hiruzen's true goals were. Hiruzen reached over and lit some tobacco in his pipe and took a few puffs _._ He'd have to give them an invitation that Ay and Onoki couldn't refuse.

' _But how?...'_ Hiruzen thought to himself. They certainly wouldn't agree to a Chunin exams in Konoha. Besides, Konoha didn't need the liability of having so many Kage in their lands. If something were to happen to one of them, it would be easy for everyone to place blame on the Leaf and war would inevitably pursue.

The old man closed his eyes on pondered his problem. Kusagakure would probably be willing to host it. They did owe Konoha multiple favors. Furthermore, the Chunin exams always brought economic profit to whatever lands they are held in since travelers come to watch. It would be a win for them.

Hiruzen took a long puff of his pipe. He could also invite Kumo and Iwa in a public setting. That way, if they refused, they would look weak for being unwilling to travel to a minor village. They would be forced to accept his invitation. Sure they'd be annoyed with him, but he was sure he could talk them down.

He called his assistant in. A young lady hurriedly entered holding a large book. She bowed down "Yes Lord Hokage".

Sarutobi put her at ease with a wave of his hand. "The Fire Daimyo has a conference coming up with representatives from the other lands correct?"

The assistant opened her large book and flipped through some pages. "… Yes, the day after tomorrow in the capitol. It looks like most of that meeting agenda will be talking about food trade between borders."

The Hokage nodded. "Please send a quick message. Inform the Daimyo that I'd like a few minutes of the meeting to make an announcement to the representatives from the other lands." He smiled, "Let's add some excitement to that meeting."

She nodded and bowed again. "Yes Lord Hokage." She quickly took off to send the message.

* * *

Dr. Shinno grabbed Amaru by the arms. "Listen to me Amaru, I want you to go across town to the Inn. I treated the Inn keeper's son so she'll let you stay the night for free. Don't tell anyone what's going on. Don't tell anyone that Orochimaru is here. Do you understand?"

Amaru didn't initially respond but she did nod. "A-are you going to be ok Dr.?"

"Ya I'll be fine. He isn't here to kill me, otherwise he would have already." Dr. Shinno handed Amaru her pack. "Please don't come back till morning."

Amaru nodded and left out the door, glancing back once to see the Dr. shut the door.

Dr. Shinno's smile vanished from his face. He waited until he sensed her leave before turning around to address his company. "You're being reckless."

Orochimaru gave an evil grin. "It's just been so long since we talked that I couldn't wait to see you! Kukuku."

Dr. Shinno crossed his arms irritated. "Let's not waste time. Every second you spend here is an opportunity for our plan to be revealed. We've worked for too long to have it all undone."

Orochimaru's smile vanished. "Fine then, on to business. I sent you a letter concerning one of my servants, Kimimaro. He is a promising prospect for a future host for me but he seems to be dying. What have you found for a cure?"

Dr. Shinno walked over to a cabinet and opened it to retrieve a blue vial of thick liquid. "I read the medical report you sent me. Unfortunately, Kimimaro's condition cannot be cured."

Orochimaru frowned. He did not like to fail, and he knew that Kimimaro was his last opportunity to acquire the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai. "That is disappointing."

Dr. Shinno threw the vial of blue liquid to Orochimaru. "This is the best I could do. Have him drink this and he should be back at 100% for a few days. Once the medicine leaves his system, he'll die."

Orochimaru looked at the vial and then put it in his pocket. "The second thing I need from you is to help me with Edo Tensei".

Shinno stopped still. "Edo Tensei? You're joking right? No one knows how to perform that jutsu."

"My, my Dr. Shinno, have you so little faith in me?" Orochimaru boasted.

"You really figured it out?" Shinno was flabbergasted.

A snake slid out of Orochimaru's sleeve. It opened its mouth wide and the end of a scroll stuck out. Orochimaru grabbed the scroll and the snake slunk back into the sleeve. Orochimaru opened the scroll on the table. "See for yourself."

Shinno came around and read the various symbols and formulas written out on the scroll. "Well I'll be damned… How many people did you have to kill to get this?"

"Idle conversation for another time. I believe it was you that said every second I spend here is a bad thing right?" Orochimaru smirked at the scowl Shinno gave him. "I have two problems, first the summons are nowhere near as powerful as they were when they were living. Second, it seems that one of the souls I wish to summon is currently trapped in the Shinigami."

Shinno read over the scroll for a while. "Can I see the talisman you use to control them?"

Orochimaru summoned a talisman and gave it to Shinno. "This is the one for the soul trapped in the Shinigami."

Shinno read over it and his eyes went wide. "You want to summon the Yondaime Ho-."

Orochimaru cut him off. "Best not to get specific with the names. You never know who is listening."

Shinno nodded. "Well I do have a few suggestions." He grabbed a brush and ink and started to draw different Kanji and rearrange some of the formulas. At first Orochimaru was apprehensive about the changes but as he watched he realized that Shinno actually had improvements. The two of them spent the next few hours meticulously reviewing and making changes to the scroll.

After they were through studying the scroll, Shinno leaned back and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I think that's all I have for you. When you summon these ninja, they should be closer to their real strength. Hopefully you will also be able to summon souls that are trapped in the Shinigami."

Orochimaru had a broad smile. "You have been most helpful Dr."

Shinno nodded. "Now, I have had a long journey and wish to go to bed. You should probably leave and not come back for a few years. The Zero Tails and sky ninja flying equipment won't be ready until then." The Dr. gave an evil grin. "Now that you have access to Edo Tensei, we'll be able to crush Konoha for sure."

"About that, there's been a change in plans." Orochimaru hummed.

Shinno's smile vanished. "What do you mean?"

"We're going to attack at the upcoming Chunin exams." Orochimaru responded. "I have a spy who is an assistant to the Hokage. Apparently they're going to host the Chunin exams in Kusagakure. Most of the major villages are going to be there, which means they are going to limit the amount of guards that each Kage brings." An evil grin spread wide on Orochimaru's face. "We're going to kill the kage and I'm going to abduct a few valuable future bodies for myself. The chaos it will cause will be thrilling!"

Shinno shook his head. "Don't be foolish Orochimaru. Even with Edo Tensei, you won't be able to pull off something like that. The Kage are just too powerful. You'll need a bigger force and the Sky doesn't have enough ninja for that."

Orochimaru nodded. "I came to the same conclusion. I tried to meet with the Kazekage, but he wouldn't grant an audience with me. So instead I'm going to use my forces, the Sky forces, and some Kusagakure contacts to overwhelm the Kage and their guards."

Shinno slammed his hand on the table. "You do not command the Sky forces Orochimaru! You're letting your impatience blind you! I will not send my ninja into a fight like this when we could just wait a few years to have the Zero Tails and our flying equipment technology ready!"

The smile didn't leave Orochimaru's face. "There's no changing your mind?"

Shinno shook his head.

"How bothersome. You have been a valuable resource. I'm going to hate to have to lose you." Orochimaru stood up.

"Are you threating m-" Shinno was cut off as a sword came out of Orochimaru's mouth and stabbed Shinno through the chest. Orochimaru withdrew the sword back into his mouth. Shinno gasped in pain as he held the bleeding wound. "Y-y-you bastard! The Sky ninja will never follow you without me!"

"Not unless they think it was some Konoha ninja that killed you. I'll be sure to tell them what happened." Orochimaru stroked Shinno's hair. "It's a shame really, this could have all turned out different if you had known your place." Shinno tried to grab some medical supplies in his pocket but Orochimaru slapped them away. Shinno coughed up blood and his eyes went blank. His head slumped forward. Shinno was dead.

* * *

 _Extra:_

 _Shortly after the third ninja war_

Zakaza watched as the Master entertained a room full guests. It had been about a month since they had left their hideout in the mountains. They had rented out a building in a small village to host a business Master had gathered together all of the best teachers in the land. They had been there for about an hour. Math, science, language, history, music and arts. The Master told them of his vision to give orphans the same opportunity that other children got. This was a half-truth, as Zakaza knew the Master's true intentions. The teacher's however, were buying every word.

"I will be forthright, I am asking you to come to a remote location for the next 5 years." The Master said.

One of the teachers in the crowd, and older gentleman, raised his hand. "Where is it at?"

"I cannot tell you that unless you agree to a contract." The Master responded.

There was a grumble in the crowd. "Ya right, you want us to sign a contact without knowing where we are going?"

The Master waved his hands. "Now, now calm down. I understand I'm asking a lot out of you. Because of that I'm willing to offer you a pay rate 5 times what your current pay rate is."

The crowd silenced. Another teacher, a younger woman this time, spoke up. "You really have that kind of money?"

The Master smiled. "Over the course of my life I have made several profitable investments. I do have the money to make that offer and I can guarantee it." The Master lifted a piece of paper. "This here is a Blood Contract. All parties who sign it have to meet the requirements of the contract or the blood contract seal will kill them."

Laughter broke out in the crowd. "That sounds ridiculous."

The Master's smile vanished. "This is very serious, I would not take this lightly." The laughter died down. "The contract dictates that I pay you 5 times what you currently make each year. To show you that these contracts are a serious matter, I will give it to you in an entire lump sum tonight if you sign your name."

"The contracts dictates that you all must come alone to the location of my choosing and work for 5 years. You must teach my orphan students in the subject field you are an expert in to the best of your abilities. Finally, the last part of your requirements is that you are not ever allowed to speak or communicate otherwise of me, the orphans, or my entire operation. I want to keep my humanitarian work a secret."

Zakaza watched from the side as the teachers started whispering one to another. One of the teachers spoke up, "So you're telling me that I can't tell my family where I'm going or what I'm doing?"

The Master thought on it for a second. "Not necessarily, you can tell them something generic like you're taking a private teaching job for 5 years. Just don't mention anything specific that could tie back to me or my operation." The whispering continued for a few minutes before the Master spoke again. "This is a onetime offer. Anyone who is not interested please leave now." Zakaza looked around. No one stood up to leave.

The Master smiled. "Excellent. I'm glad you all understand what a valuable opportunity this is for all of you. You will each approach the table one by one and sign the Blood Contract. Be back here in 30 days and pack only the essentials. That should give you enough time to get your affairs in order."

One by one teachers approached the table and signed their names. After signing their names, they got a copy of the contract and they were guided over to Zakaza. Zakaza was carrying a large bag of Ryo. The teachers would tell them how much they currently make, and Zakaza would pay them appropriately. The temptation of that large amount of money and been too much for the teachers to resist.

Soon enough, all of the teachers left, leaving Zakaza and the Master alone.

The Master smiled. "Well that went according to plan. Now come dear boy, we must go fetch our dear little orphans."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Aww don't you love romantic foreshadowing? This will be a Naruto X Ino Fic.**

 **Also, thanks for the follows/favorites/reviews. Each one goes a long way in helping me motivate myself to write.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Water slapped against the hull of the boat as Zabuza and the others sailed through the mist. Zabuza had his eyes closed listening for anything else on the surrounding sea. In the thick fog, normal eyes couldn't see far beyond the sides of the group's small boat. Luckily, they had come to find out that underneath Ao's eyepatch wasn't just an empty socket. Ao had a Byakugan eye that he had taken off a Hyuga ninja back in the day. With that, Ao had been serving as their guide, occasionally activating his Byakugan silently and observing the surrounding water.

The Land of Water was made up of a chain of hundreds of islands. Most of the islands were either uninhabited or settled by a family who had been there since their ancestors first discovered it. Kirigakure, the Land of Water capitol, and most of the civilian populace towns were located on the major central island.

By virtue of its location, Kirigakure would be a hard village to wage war on. Any other enemy nations would have to sail an army in and bypass the many secret ninja outposts on the outer smaller islands before arriving on the central island. Then there was the persistent fog that shrouded some of the waterways. It was easy to get lost or even wreck a ship.

For those that knew the water channels and wanted to sail deep into the territory of the Land of Water, the fog was a safe haven. Unless there was a sensory type ninja around, there was virtually no way to detect a small boat in the dense fog. While sailing through the fog, the crew of three rebel Kiri-nin maintained silence as to increase their chances of getting to the rebel base undetected.

Zabuza flinched when he heard a nearby splash. He held his breath for a few seconds before relaxing again. It was probably just a fish. He opened his eyes and glanced at Ao who was staring ahead intently. Zabuza was starting to grow restless from being in a boat too long.

A few hours later their small boat jolted and the crew felt the vessel run up onto some sand. "We're here," Ao broke the silence. "We have to walk a little ways. Follow the sounds of my steps or you'll get lost." Zabuza and Haku watched Ao step off the boat and seemingly disappear into the mist.

Zabuza and Haku walked blindly into the fog as they followed the crunch of Ao feet against the sand. After a few minutes of walking, the crunch turned into a light thud as they started walking on rocky terrain. After a few more minutes the steps stopped.

"Down the hole we go" Ao muttered. Zabuza and Haku heard him jump down into something. Feeling around with their feet, they found a tiny opening in the ground. They both jumped down in one at a time.

Zabuza's and Haku's eyes fluttered as the world lit up around them. They had jumped down into a tunnel that was lit up along the sides with torches. Somehow, the fog wasn't making its way down into the cavern. Zabuza wondered why that was, but decided to hold his questions for now.

The group made their way down the tunnel and passed several other branching tunnels with doors. Ninja of various ages were walking around in and out of the doors or talking in the hallways. When Zabuza walked by, most of the ninja would stop talking and look at him shocked. Zabuza could hear them whispering to one another all around. "Was that Zabuza Momochi?... Look! One of the Seven Swordsmen has come back!... I hear he almost killed Yagura single handily…"

Zabuza shook his head. He had never liked the bloated fanfare that his giant blade brought him.

Finally, they arrived at a large door that had a guard stationed outside. The guard was a teenage boy that had spiky blue hair and thick black rimmed glasses. He wore a pinstriped shirt with camo pants. On his back was strapped a large wrapped object with two handles poking out. Zabuza knew exactly what that large wrapped 'object' was. The boy's nervous eyes darted from looking at the ground and looking at the approaching ninja.

Ao walked up and motioned towards the boy. "This here is Chojuro. He is our leader's personal guard and the current wielder of Hiramekarei, the Twinsword. He-"

Ao was interrupted as Zabuza started roaring with laughter. Even Haku, who had accompanied Zabuza for many years, was caught off guard. To hear him openly laugh like that was… weird.

"Hahaha! You have to be joking! This kid is a Seven Swordsmen? Holy Shit!" Zabuza laughed.

Chojuro's shoulders slumped as he looked at the ground. "Sorry Master Zabuza, I… I know I don't look v-very intimidating."

Ao frowned. "Chojuro, don't let someone mock you like that. You're supposed to be one of the Seven Swordsmen."

Chojuro sighed again, "I'm sorry Master Ao, I didn't mean-"

Ao cut him off, "Stop apologizing! Your generation has gotten soft. Back in my day, kids your age would have looked Zabuza in the eyes and told him to go to hell."

Zabuza finally finished chuckling. "Ya boy, why don't you tell me to go to hell?"

Chojuro was nervous before but now he was downright terrified. "I-I-I w-w-would never t-talk ba-ba-back to someone l-l-like y-y-ou."

Zabuza leaned forward so his face was inches away from Chojuro's, who now looked like he was close to fainting. "Your stuttering pisses me off. Maybe I'll grab my sword for the fun of it and-"

"Zabuza", spoke Haku, "please leave the poor boy alone."

Zabuza straighten up. "Fine. So Ao, are we going to meet your fearless leader or not?"

Ao nodded, "Yes but first I need you to leave your sword outside with Chojuro."

Zabuza crossed his arms. "That's a good joke. Keep it up and I might start laughing again." Zabzua replied in a serious tone.

Ao sighed. "Zabuza, don't be an Asshole. You know I can't let you in there to meet her with your blade."

Zabuza didn't move for a few seconds. Finally, he slowly reached up and took the blade off his back and stabbed it into the ground. "Haku," he muttered out loud. Haku did a few hand-signs and ice formed around the blade, firmly securing it to the ground. "Don't want anyone getting too brave and trying to steal my sword."

Ao nodded and pushed the door open to usher in Zabuza and Haku. The room was brightly lit and, for the most part, bare except for a few chairs and a desk. Behind the desk was a beautiful woman wearing blue with a mane of long auburn hair. Her bangs came down and covered part of her face leaving one piercing green eye exposed. Her elbows were up on her desk, her fingers clasped together as she addressed her guests.

"Hello, my name is Mei Terumi."

* * *

Sakura ran out the door as she attempted to put her headband on over her hair. She was going to be late. Her shift at the hospital had gone overtime due to an accident that had hurt several people that day. She thought she'd still have plenty of time, but when she looked at the clock it was much later than she thought it would be. She was supposed to meet Kakashi at 7:00 pm.

After the hospital, she had run home for a VERY quick dinner and put on her training gear. She sprinted through the streets and arrived at the training grounds 20 minutes late.

Shockingly, Kakashi was there waiting for her.

Sakura ran up to her teacher who was leaning against a tree reading a book. She put her hands on her knees panting. "I'm sorry I'm late. I can't believe you were on time!"

Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "Late? Sakura you're a half hour early."

"What?" Sakura looked confused. "No, I'm sure I'm twenty minutes late."

Kakashi pointed to an alarm clock sitting on a rock. "What time does that say?

"It says six…. thirty…" Ok now Saukra was really confused. "Kakashi-sensei why do you have a clock sitting out on a rock?"

Kakashi shut his book and put it in his pocket. "Don't worry about it. By the way, you're a half hour late."

"What?" Sakura turned back to the clock. "But your clock says it's… seven thirty? Ok what is going on?!" Sakura shouted. The hour hand had moved from six to seven.

"Nothing is going on. We were about to start your training since you arrived right on time." Kakashi eye smiled.

Sakura looked at the clock again and saw that it read seven o clock on the dot. She sighed. "So is this like a trick clock or something?"

"Not at all, it's a regular old clock that's right on time. What's wrong is that you're under a Genjutsu I cast on you back when you left the hospital."

Sakura shook her head confused. "Wait what? I'm under a Genjutsu?"

"Yep." Kakashi nodded. "The first part of learning how to break out of Genjutsu is learning to recognize when you are under its influence. I figured I would test your abilities out with something simple. So, whenever you check a clock, you are seeing the time I want you to see."

Sakura still looked confused. "I don't remember seeing you when I left the hospital…"

"What can I say, I'm very sneaky." Kakashi teased.

Sakura just shook her head. She glanced at the clock again and saw that it was showing 8 o clock. "Whatever, so what am I supposed to do to recognize when I'm under Genjutsu? This is nothing like the time when you showed me an image of Sasuke dying during the bell test."

Kakashi scratched his chin as he thought about how to explain it. "Well Genjutsu isn't my specialty, but it appears to me that there are 3 types of Genjutsu. The first type is Genjutsu that isn't too powerful but very deceiving. For example, what I'm doing with you now with the clocks. I'm not trying to make your brain see something weird or crazy. Instead, I've just made a subtle change to your normal environment, in this case slightly changing the time on clocks that you look at. Someone trained in the basics of Genjutsu could easily break out of this IF they can recognize what's going on.

"But Sensei, why would someone even use that type of Genjutsu? I mean ya sure it's very deceiving, but who cares if clocks look a little different when I look at them?" Sakura asked.

"True, it's not powerful, but slight acts of deceit can be very dangerous on the battlefield. Let's say that you are an enemy ninja commander and you have to coordinate an attack strategy with your allies. Using our example of the clocks, I could throw your whole plan off if I snuck in and cast a Genjutsu on you. I could make you send your troops in too early or send in reinforcements too late. I could create all sorts of chaos for you and your allies by just simply making you see the wrong time." Kakashi responded.

Sakura nodded. "Oh that makes sense. I didn't think about it that way. What's the second type of Genjutsu?"

"The second type is Genjutsu that is very powerful but not very deceiving. It's not meant to trick you, rather it's meant to boldly overpower your senses. Oftentimes you recognize almost immediately that you are under Genjutsu but you are unable to do anything about it." Kakashi stated.

"Is that like what you did to me during the bell test?" Sakura asked.

"Hmm yes and no. The Hell Viewing Technique is somewhere between the first type and second type of Genjutsu. It's certainly more powerful than something like making you see the wrong time, but it's less conspicuous to recognize. When you saw Sasuke dying a tragic death in front of you, it was during battle between you three and me. Sure, if Sasuke was actually dying he wouldn't act so dramatic like what you saw, but it still wasn't unusual to see someone dying during what you thought was a real fight. A better example of the second type of Genjutsu is a technique that Team 8's Sensei, Kurenai, uses called 'Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death'. During that technique, the victim thinks they are being captured by trees while the illusion castor emerges from the tree trunk to kill them. The victim can obviously recognize that they are under a Genjutsu because being captured by trees is bizarre, but the illusion is so powerful that few can break out of its hold." Kakashi explained.

Sakura nodded again. "That makes sense. What's the third type?"

"The third type of Genjutsu is rare because it is both very powerful and very deceitful. You can make someone experience an entirely different reality in their mind and the victim actually believes that whatever they are experiencing is their true reality." Kakashi taught.

"Wow this Genjutsu stuff is kind of freaky." Remarked Sakura.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes it is, but I wouldn't worry about that third type. I don't know of anyone living today that can pull off that high of caliber of Genjutsu. You just need to focus on recognizing when you're under Genjutsu and learn how to break out of it."

"Right!" Sakura glanced at the clock again and it showed the hour hand at the 6. "So I'm still under the Genjutsu you put on me earlier. How do I break out of it?"

"Let's first work on recognizing it. You need to feel for disturbances in your charka network. Close your eyes and focus on your internal chakra for a minute." Said Kakashi.

Sakura closed her eyes and cleared her mind. She felt her chakra that she had used so many times circulating throughout her body. It was a familiar, natural energy that felt warm. She heard Kakashi's voice speak up telling her to keep focusing and to feel for abnormalities. At first everything seemed fine. Everything felt like it was flowing smoothly and functioning correctly. Then she noticed a small disruption in the chakra around her brain. Something felt weird there, something foreign. Barely noticeable, strange chakra was mixing with her own in that one spot.

"Kakashi-sensei… I think I found something. There's a tiny spot in my chakra network where something weird is going on." Sakura remarked.

"For Genjutsu to work, the user has to use their chakra to manipulate the victim's brain. You should feel a tiny bit of my chakra in your system." Said Kakashi. "To get rid of my chakra, you need to shock your system. You already know you can do that through pain, but the better way to do it is to use your own chakra. Focus and control your chakra. Let it build up and then release it through your system. That should be disruptive enough to expel my Genjutsu."

Sakura put her hands together and let her chakra build up in her core. After a moment, she shouted "Kai!" and her built up chakra rushed out into her chakra network. She felt the small amount of foreign chakra in her mind get overrun and dissipate.

She opened her eyes and felt a little dizzy from the experience. Peaking over at the clock, it read six fifty-five. "Kakashi-sensei, is it six fifty-five?"

Kakashi gave her a bright eye smile. "It sure is. Good work!"

Sakura felt a light blush dot her cheeks as she smiled. She wasn't even mad that Kakashi had rushed her to their training spot early. She was starting to see the fruits of her labor and it felt good. She still wasn't where she needed to be but at least now she could finally do something unique that the boys couldn't do.

"Now, we are going to have you continue to practice how to break out of small scale Genjutsus. It'll take work but hopefully by the time you guys have to report for the Chunin exams I can get you to the point where you can break others out of minor Genjutsu using your chakra. You think you're up for the challenge?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura punched her hand and let her inner Sakura do the talking for her:

" **YA!"**

* * *

Naruto walked down the street towards the training grounds. All around he was getting glares from people he had never met before. He noted that this was an especially bad walk when he saw a mother up ahead hurry and walk her kid across the street when he walked by, only to come back to the same spot once he had walked past. He used to not know why he got the glares but that changed once he was told about his 'roommate'.

He didn't know which was worse, not knowing why people hated him or knowing that they hated him because he carried a monster in his body. He could understand that they feared the Kyuubi. He didn't know Konoha history very well, but even he remembered the lessons they had received in the academy on the monstrous Fox that had killed so many people.

Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. The Fox wouldn't change his goals. He would be Hokage someday and he'd prove to all these people that they had nothing to fear from him. He would be the greatest ninja of Konoha and he'd earn their admiration.

Naruto rounded the corner and the green training grounds came into view. He had spent the last few days at the grounds preparing for the upcoming exams. He wasn't sure what he should be doing to prepare, so he spent his time fighting clones of himself. It was a good workout and fighting himself helped him figure out issues with his Taijutsu.

Today he decided to change things up and visit a different field. As he walked up, he noticed the field was occupied. Asuma was leading Team 10 in some cardio drills. All three Genin looked dirty and tired, which meant that they must have been at it for a while. Poor Choji had wide sweat rings on his clothing under his armpits and around his neck.

"Hey guys!" Naruto greeted as he approached them.

The Team 10 Genin used Naruto's interruption as an excuse to take a break. Naruto heard a mumbled "Hey" from them as they leaned on their knees panting heavily.

Asuma turned and decided to let his students get away with taking a break. "Hey there Naruto, what brings you here?"

"Just coming here for some training. I'm getting myself ready for the Chunin exams." Naruto gave a broad smile.

Ino perked her head up. "Sakura didn't tell me you guys were entering the exams?"

"Yep! Kakashi-sensei thinks we're ready. Team 7 is going to go in there and kick some ass!" Said Naruto.

Asuma gave a chuckle. "Well Naruto I don't think it will be that easy for you. After all, Team 10 is also going to be competing."

"Ya, and word on the street is that Team 8 is also giving it a go." Stated Ino. "Looks like you're not the only rookie squad that's going to be there. Speaking of squad, is Sasuke and Sakura coming to join you for training?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Umm no… we're not really training together."

Asuma looked puzzled. "Kakashi isn't having you all meet together to train?"

"No, he's been training Sakura a little bit but we haven't been meeting together. Are we supposed to be?" Naruto responded.

Asuma sighed, Kakashi was definitely supposed to be training them as a team, but Asuma wasn't about to make Kakashi look bad in front of one of his students. "I'm sure he has his reasons. Maybe just ask him for a few team training sessions next time you see him."

"Don't do it." Shikamaru spoke up. While they had been talking, Shikamaru had flopped himself down on the ground for his break. "Team training is such a drag."

Asuma gave another chuckle. "Aww come on their Shikamaru! It's not that bad. You ought to do a training session with Guy sometime, then you'll thank me for going easy on you."

Shikamaru just put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

Asuma just shook his head. "Well Naruto, since you're here do you want to help us finish out our training session?"

"Ya sure!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Ok so what can you do?" Asuma asked.

"I can do the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and make a whole bunch of clones." Said Naruto.

"Kage? Don't you just mean Bunshin no Jutsu?" Replied Asuma.

"Nope", Naruto crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" About 50 Narutos puffed into existence.

All of Team 10 looked shocked. Even Shikamaru had opened an eye to see what was going on. Asuma was the first to speak up, "well I'll be damned. I don't think I've ever met someone that could make that many Kage Bunshin."

Sakura had told Ino that Naruto had gotten stronger since the academy, but Ino still hadn't expected this. She walked up and poked one of the clones in the arm. It felt solid, and the clone was bothered by the poking. "Hey knock it off."

Ino ignored the complaint. "How come we didn't learn this in the academy?"

"Creating Kage Bunshin takes a lot of chakra. So much that it can be dangerous to use and therefore has been labeled a forbidden technique. Naruto apparently has a lot of chakra." Stated Asuma.

Naruto took the opportunity to look good in front of his peers. "Ya it's a pretty difficult technique. Not even Sasuke can do it."

This got a chuckle out of Shikamaru and Choji. Ino on the other hand, immediately came to Sasuke's defense. "Whatever, Sasuke can blow fireballs. That's way better than making Kage Bunshin."

One of the Naruto clones spoke up. "Hey boss, don't let her talk to you like that."

Then another spoke up. "Ya! Ino-pig shouldn't be talking down to you!"

A deathly silence fell onto the group.

Ino's face wore a blank, emotionless expression. "Naruto… what did you just call me?"

The real Naruto had turned deathly pale. "It's not what you think Ino, sometimes I create clones that act out! I would never-"

"Asuma-sensei…", Ino cut Naruto off, "… didn't you say Naruto was going to help us train? Please give me an excuse to punch him in his stupid face."

"Oh man Naruto, you're screwed now!" Teased Choji.

Asuma reached in his pocket and brought out a red strip of cloth. "Ok here's the goal, one of you three has to attach this red ribbon to yourself." He then drew out a kunai and threw it across the field where it stuck straight up into the ground. "Your goal is to get the person that has the red ribbon to touch the kunai." Asuma then turned to the group of Narutos. "Naruto, your goal is to prevent them from getting to the kunai and you're trying to steal the red ribbon from them. The training ends when Naruto steals the red ribbon or when the person holding the red ribbon touches the kunai." Asuma gave Naruto a pat on the back. "I know you're fighting three of them, but I've been tiring them out for the past couple of hours so it should still be somewhat fair."

Now it was Shikamaru's turn to speak up. "Three of us?! There's like 50 Narutos. If anything it's unfair against us. Man this is a drag, I say we just let Naruto steal the red ribbon."

"Oh no you don't, I'm not going to let you be lazy on this one." Asuma responded. "Here's the deal, if you three win we'll call it a day for training and you can go home. If you three lose, then you can count on two more hours of heavy physical training."

Shikamaru's ear twitched. "If we beat Naruto, then we can be done for the day?"

Asuma smiled. "Yep."

In a gust of energy that was rarely seen out of a Nara, Shikamaru jumped up onto his feet and grabbed the ribbon out of Asuma's hand. "Give us a minute." He waved for Ino and Choji to huddle a ways away so they couldn't be heard.

"Alright! This will be a good challenge! Thanks Asuma-sensei." Naruto spoke.

"No problem, it'll be good for them to get a different challenge." Asuma gave Naruto a serious look. "Naruto can I offer you a piece of advice?"

"Sure what's up?"

"Keep the real you away from Ino. I'm pretty sure she's out for blood after your clone called her a pig." To Asuma's amusement, the color drained from Naruto's face. "Anyways, you and your clones might want to go get ready. I've never seen Shikamaru so determined before."

Naruto lead his group of clones to place themselves between the kunai and the Team 10 Genin.

After a few minutes, the Team 10 Genin broke their huddle and approached the battlefield. Choji and Shikamaru were out front, with Ino behind. Ino had the ribbon tied around her right thigh. Shikamaru turned to address his teammates.

"Remember the goal is to get Ino to the kunai, not to beat all of the Narutos. Let's stick to the plan and we should be able to pull this off and go home. Ino, if you run into problems you need to use plan B."

Ino crossed her arms and glared at Shikamaru. "For the record, I hate your plan B."

Choji started to giggle. "Ya but you have to admit it's a good backup plan. Shikamaru really thought things through."

"Hm", Ino pouted, "it's still a dumb plan."

"Ok I think we're ready." Asuma shouted. "Ready? 3, 2, 1, GO!"

Instantly, the Narutos started to run forward until Shikamaru threw his hands up in the air and yelled "WAIT!"

The group of Narutos came to a stop confused. "What's the big deal? Asuma-sensei said go?"

"I know, I just have something I need to tell you." Shikamaru responded. He waited a second, letting the moment of suspense build up. "Naruto… you're going to have to change your dreams because I'm going to become the Hokage and there's nothing you can do about it."

Whatever Naruto was expecting, that was not it. After the initial shock, one of the Narutos in the middle of the group stepped forward, "Like hell you are! I'm not going to step aside for you! I'm going to become Hokage! Believe-" A smile crossed Shikamaru's face which helped Naruto realize that he had just made a big mistake.

"That's the real one, get him Choji!" yelled Ino.

Choji slapped his hands together. "Baika no Jutsu!" Choji's torso expanded until he looked like a large balloon with limbs sticking out. "Nikudan Sensha!" Choji's limbs and head pulled into his torso as his large round body began rotating faster and faster in place. Once Choji was rotating fast enough that his body was a blur, he shot forward heading straight towards the real Naruto.

The real Naruto jumped back. "We can't let him clear a path!" The group of clones jumped in front and braced themselves. Choji rammed into the mass of bodies. Some were sent flying off to the sides, while others disappeared as they were ran over. After the first dozen were destroyed, Choji lost some of his momentum and the rest of the clones were able to put their hands up and stop him from advancing forward. The mass grunted from the effort it took to collectively hold back the giant spinning ball.

"Choji, go to the air now!" Shikamaru yelled as he ran up behind Choji. Immediately, Choji stopped trying to roll forward and instead 'bounced' his giant ball shape into the air. Shikamaru slid right into the middle of the clone mass.

The clones smiled as they sounded off together. "You idiot! Now we're going to kick your-"

The clones stopped speaking when they all realized they couldn't move.

"Shadow possession complete." Shikamaru gloated. The group of clones all huddled together naturally created a giant misshaped blob of shadows. It had been easy for Shikamaru to close in and nearly instantly take control of the entire mass by connecting his shadow to one of the clones.

Luckily, the real Naruto had jumped back far enough that his shadow hadn't overlapped his clones' shadows. He started to hear rumbling again as he turned and saw that Choji had landed off to the side and was now barreling towards him at an incredible speed.

"SHIT!" Naruto jumped off to the side to avoid collision. Choji sped past and took a large turn to come around and barrel down on him again.

Naruto crossed his fingers and created 10 fresh clones. They all ran forward together and kicked the rolling ball as hard as they could. They succeeded in booting Choji away, but the collision had sent them flying as well. All but the real Naruto burst out of existence.

Naruto got up and brushed himself off. "Ya! You guys aren't getting past me!"

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Naruto heard the voice behind him and turned to receive a kick in the face courtesy of Ino's foot.

"Ino! You were supposed to run to the kunai!" Shikamaru yelled as he struggled to contain the original group of clones Naruto had created.

"I know, I know, but I had to get him back for calling me a pig earlier." Ino smiled as she watched Naruto pick himself off the ground. "Not so mouthy now are you?"

"You're the one with the big mouth!" yelled Naruto. "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because you're a girl!"

"I'd be offended if you did." Ino got into a defensive stance.

Naruto and Ino had very different styles of fighting. If it were a match of raw physical strength or durability, Naruto would have been clear winner. Unfortunately for Naruto, Taijutsu was much more than just raw strength. In the academy, Naruto had struggled and oftentimes spent more effort pulling pranks or trying to be funny than learning what the academy taught. Ino on the other hand, was the top kunoichi of her class and daughter of a clan head. Although at times she had been distracted with Sasuke, shopping and gossip, she had also spent a significant amount of time practicing basic Taijutsu forms and Katas from an early age.

The difference in practice was apparent as Naruto came swinging in only for his punch to be deflected by Ino. She rewarded his efforts by giving him a swift elbow in the cheek.

"Ahh, will you stop hitting me in the face!" He tried to trip her with a leg sweep but she jumped his leg and kicked him in the face as she came down.

Ino gave him a confident grin. "I'm teaching you a lesson! Never call a girl a pig!" She threw another punch towards his face. It looked like he tried to bring his hands up to block it, but her hand broke through and rocked him in the face causing his head to flip back.

Ino was surprised by the next turn of events. Naruto brought his head back up with a bloody lip and a smile. "Gotcha!" His hands that looked like they were trying to block wrapped around Ino's outstretched wrist. She tried to pull away, but Naruto's grip was too strong. He turned and flipped her up over his shoulder, slamming her onto the ground behind him. The impact briefly knocked the wind out of her.

"Had enough?" he panted.

"Not on your life!" Ino brought her legs in and used both legs to kick him up under his chin, making him fall to the ground. She tried to get up and run to the kunai, but as she got to her knees she felt him grab onto her wrist again from the ground. He jerked her around and slugged her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground again.

After a second, both stood up breathing heavily. "I told you that I wasn't going to go easy on you!" Naruto smiled. "I'm going to get that red ribbon off of you." Naruto crossed his fingers and a circle of clones 'poofed' into existence around Ino.

Before Ino could respond, she heard Shikamaru's voice call out from the distance. "Ino! Use Plan B!"

She turned and looked at him among the group of clones he had captive. "I am NOT using Plan B!"

"You have to! I can't hold these guys much longer and Choji is still dazed from Naruto kicking him earlier! I am not going to lose and spend another few hours training with Asuma!" Shikamaru yelled back angrily, teeth gritted and sweating from the effort it took to hold so many bodies in place.

"UHHH FINE!" Ino huffed. She took a deep breath and turned towards Naruto with a sweet smile. "Ok Naruto, you win. You can have the red ribbon… but you have to take it off my leg."

Naruto looked confused. "Umm ok that's not a problem."

"Sure it isn't, other than it's really high up on my thigh… but I'm sure a mature boy such as you won't be embarrassed to touch me there." She winked.

Naruto looked at the ribbon and his breath got cut short. It was tied up high around her thigh. For some reason the thought of touching her there to untie it caused blood to rush to his cheeks and he felt embarrassed. "Can't you just… I don't know… untie it and give it to me?"

Ino shook her finger. "No, Asuma was very clear that you had to steal it from me. Now, if you don't mind, now that I know we've lost I want to get comfortable." She took the pony tail out of her hair and let her hair fall down around her shoulders. A light breeze seemed to pick up and flutter her hair in the wind. The light seemed to brighten and sparkle around her as she motioned for him to come closer with her finger. "Come on over Naruto, I promise I won't… bite."

Naruto's whole face was red now as he felt butterflies in his stomach. What the hell was going on with him? "Ino… I … uh… well… you know… I… uh…" DAMN IT! He couldn't even get out a full sentence!

"You're not going to walk over? Well then, I'll come to you." She flipped her hair around and started walking towards the real Naruto slowly, swaying her hips as she walked.

The clones around her started shuffling around nervously, trying to find other places to look.

The real Naruto stood petrified as Ino got up close to him. His body jolted when she snaked her arms up and clasped her hands around his neck. She leaned in close so that her mouth was by his ear. "Before you take the ribbon off of me, can I give you some advice?" She got ever so closer that he could feel her warm breath on his neck. The next sentence came out as a low whisper, "Never drop your guard."

Before he could ask her what that meant, Ino brought her leg back and kneed him in the groin.

Naruto's world shattered. His eyes bulged wide as he let out a silent scream from the pain. Ino stepped to the side as Naruto fell face forward onto the grass. All across the field, the Naruto clones disappeared with a 'puff' from the damage that the real Naruto took.

Ino left Naruto on the grass as she skipped over and grabbed the kunai from the ground, holding it triumphantly in the air. "We win!"

Shikamaru took a moment to catch his breath before wandering over to Ino and Naruto, who was still laying on the grass unmoving. Shikamaru crouched down and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Sorry man, it wasn't my first choice in plans but I had to make sure we won."

All he got for a response was a grumble.

"Don't worry, the pain will stop soon… I think. I'll make it up to you with some lunch sometime." Shikamaru stood up and turned to Ino. "I'm going to go get Choji, I think he is still seeing stars." Shikamaru headed off in Choji's direction.

Ino watched as Naruto came up onto his knees slowly. "Well Naruto you put up a pretty good fight. I didn't think you'd do this well against the three of us."

Naruto brought his head up and looked at her accusingly. "That was a dirty trick!"

"It wasn't a trick, I literally slow walked to you. You and your clones could have attacked me at any moment. You just dropped your guard."

Naruto started shaking a fist at her. "You must have used one of your mind jutsus on me! I don't know why I felt like I couldn't move!"

Ino snickered. "I know why. I think Mr. Future Hokage was caught off guard by a pretty girl flirting with him. Saukra will feel so betrayed."

Naruto stood up on his feet. "Whatever, one of these days I want a rematch! I won't fall for the same trick twice."

"Ya, ya, we'll see. Now you have fun training, I'm going to head home and get some much needed beauty rest." Ino turned to walk away but stopped to say one last thing. "Oh and Naruto… good job. You've gotten a lot better since the academy. You should be proud of that."

Naruto didn't respond as he was taken aback by the compliment. He watched Ino and Shikamaru help Choji to his feet. The three of them wandered off the training field with Asuma, turning around once to give Naruto a goodbye wave.

Naruto smiled as he waved back. Although they had played a dirty trick on him, he liked Team 10. He could tell they were close with one another and worked well together as a team. A twinge of jealously hit Naruto as he thought of his own teammates that he hadn't seen since they got back from their mission in the Land of Waves. Maybe he would ask Kakashi if they all could train together.

* * *

Kabuto read over some documents as he prepared for the Chunin exams. He was meticulously reviewing battle plans. He frowned as he read through each step. They had been sure that the Chunin exams would be at Konoha and had come up with a plan that would have crushed the Leaf underneath Orochimaru's heel. That all changed when Orochimaru's spy reported that the Chunin exams would be at Kusagakure and that Iwa and Kumo would probably be in attendance.

Kabuto put the papers down and rubbed his eyes. It was too ambitious. He feared that Orochimaru's judgement was being clouded by his hatred of Konoha. True, the number of ninja would be limited at the event but there would also probably be 4 Kage there as well. He figured Yagura wouldn't show up with all the problems going on at the Mist.

They simply didn't have the resources to fight and kill all four Kage with their guards and other Jounin instructors there. Even if they did succeed, the Kage's villages would seek for swift and ruthless vengeance. Did Orochimaru really need that kind of attention?

Kabuto was brought out of his thoughts when he sensed someone enter the room. Standing in his doorway was the Sannin himself.

Kabuto immediately dropped down to one knee. "Lord Orochimaru, I wasn't expecting you."

"Rise Kabuto, we have some things to discuss." Orochimaru walked forward.

Kabuto stood. He was perplexed, his apartment was in the middle of Konoha. Orochimaru coming here was a great risk to both of them. "What do you need?"

Orochimaru took a seat at the table and pulled out some cards that were orange on one side and blank on the other. "I have some more info cards for you to add to your collection. Now that Kumo and Iwa are going to be competing in the Chunin exams, I want you to have as much information as possible on their Genin."

Kabuto took a seat at the other side of the table and grabbed the stack of cards. "Thanks."

Orochimaru nodded as he glanced at the paperwork that Kabuto had been reviewing earlier. "You've been reviewing the plans then?"

"Yes I have. Lord Orochimaru, don't you think we are rushing things?" Kabuto questioned.

"Not at all. Having a gathering of this many Kage hasn't happened in years. The fruit of opportunity lays before us, we just have to be willing to reach out and pluck it." Orochimaru reached out and plucked an imaginary fruit out of the air.

Kabuto rubbed his temples. "The whole plan is set up to kill all the Kage in attendance. What opportunity do we get out of that if we succeed? All of the villages will attack and burn Otogakure to the ground. Not even you could prevent that."

"Ah but Otogakure won't be the ones to attack the Chunin exams." Orochimaru reached into his pocket and put a headband on the table. "Konoha will take the blame."

Kabuto picked up the headband to examine it. Engraved on the metal was the leaf symbol of Konoha. Realization dawned on him. "We're going to attack the exams as Leaf-nin?"

"Precisely, Konoha will get the blame and the other villages will attack them. Konoha will not be able to stand against the combined might of Kumo, Iwa, and Suna."

"But the other villages will surely know that we aren't actually working for Konoha right? I mean we're going to try and kill the Hokage. That makes it pretty obvious that we aren't working for Konoha." Kabuto again sounded doubtful.

"You are correct; the other villages will probably know that we aren't actual Konoha ninja. That won't change anything though, the other villages are itching for the excuse to go to war. They'll use our attack as an excuse to wipe Konoha off the map, so they'll keep pretending that they think we were working for the Leaf." Orochimaru gave a snakelike grin. "We'll let them destroy Konoha for us."

Kabuto nodded. That actually made a lot of sense. "It probably doesn't matter but do you think we can actually pull it off? Killing the Kage I mean."

"I recently recruited the Sky ninja so that'll bolster our forces. Dr. Shinno was also kind enough to help me improve Edo Tensei before he tragically passed away. The ninja I bring back will now be closer to their original strength from when they were alive." Orochimaru replied. "I also have a hidden ace up my sleeve. I have a very important contact in Kusagakure that will be lending us aid."

Orochimaru's smile vanished as he gave Kabuto a serious look. "I don't need you worrying about the Kage, I have a different assignment for you. The Chunin exams will have some of the best prospective ninja as participants, including Sasuke Uchiha. I plan on taking him and several other Genin that will serve as ideal bodies for the future. You'll be my eyes during the exams. I need you to select the Genin that we'll take while the battle is going on."

Kabuto nodded. "Just from Konoha?"

"I want the strongest bodies; I don't care where they're from." Orochimaru replied. "The Sound Five will be taking the Genin you select."

Kabuto looked confused. "Don't you mean Sound Four?"

"No… Kimimaro will serve me one last time." Orochimaru chuckled.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **I've always wondered what summons the Konoha rookies would be matched with. So, the question of the week is:**

 **What animal would each member of Team 10 be matched with for summoning?**

 **My thoughts-**

 **Shikamaru- I want to say a rat. I know the Nara clan is associated with deer but rats seem to fit better with the whole "shadow" thing.**

 **Choji- I would say a boar. I know he has the whole butterfly thing going on, but seeing him on a rampaging boar just seems to fit better in my mind for some reason.**

 **Ino- Her being matched up with a pig would be the hilarious choice. She's all about her looks and works at a flower shop… so can her summon be like a carnivorous flower? Like a venus fly trap on steroids? Hmm not sure on that one.**

 **Let me know how you would match up Team 10. I'll ask the same question about Team 8 next chapter.**

 **Thanks!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Sakura stretched as she got out of bed. It was Saturday and she was supposed to meet her new instructor that would be helping her with basic combat training. She slowly put on her training gear and then went into the bathroom to splash water onto her face. Her eyes had dark bags under them from the exhausting week she had. The hospital shifts had been busy enough, but it was Kakashi that was tiring her out. He had decided to make a game out of trying to put Sakura under simple Genjutsus each afternoon. He would be sneaky and get her as she was walking into the hospital, or when she was with a patient. She tried to tell him that what he was doing might affect her work as an intern, but he just shrugged it off telling her that the sooner she learned to recognize when she was under a Genjutsu, the sooner she'd be able to prevent it from affecting her work.

The other motivation for her to pay special attention to her chakra network was that he made each of the Genjutsus very irritating. One day he messed with her sight so that she couldn't see the word 'the' on documents. She had read a few medical evaluations and had reported the error to the staff. They all laughed at her and told her she needed to get her eyes checked. A different time, he messed with her sense of smell which caused her to randomly smell rotting fish throughout the day. That was fun.

She didn't' like that he was having such a good time messing with her, but she had to admit it was working. Checking her chakra network for small abnormalities was becoming easier and easier. It was slowly becoming something she did subconsciously.

After grabbing a quick bite to eat, she set off towards the training grounds. The streets were empty for the most part, as the sun was just barely visible rising above the tree line.

She would have to make the most of her combat training today. This week the Hokage had gone to a major international meeting and had announced that the Chunin exams would be in Kusagakure. The time it would take for them to travel to Kusa would now rob her of time that she thought she had to train.

She reached the training grounds, but didn't find anyone. She angrily punched a nearby tree. Kakashi probably forgot to tell his contact to meet her. Typical.

She looked up as a voice suddenly called down to her from the top of the tree. "What's the matter Pinky? Did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?" Sakura saw a slender lady standing on a branch near the top of the tree. She had purple hair tied back in a spiky ponytail. She was wearing a tan coat over mesh undergarments. A wicked grin stretched across her face as she leapt down, landing near Sakura.

"Umm hi" Sakura said as the strange lady looked her over.

"Hmm no wonder Kakashi wanted you to meet up with me, you don't have an ounce of muscle on you." The lady gave Sakura a sharp poke in the arm. "See nothing there."

Sakura rubbed her arm where the lady had poked her. "I'm not that weak…"

The lady let out a loud laugh. "I've seen twigs that are stronger than you Pinky! Now then, let's not waste any more time." Suddenly the lady dashed forward and booted Sakura across the field.

Sakura quickly sat up into a sitting position gripping her midsection, clearly pissed. "What the hell lady! I don't even know you!"

"The name's Anko." Responded the stranger. Sakura watched in horror as several long snake slithered out of Anko's sleeves and arched up to stare at poor Sakura.

' _She's going to kill me!'_ Sakura thought to herself.

Anko had a predatory look in her eyes as she got into a fighting stance, her snakes opening their mouths to reveal large fangs. "Training Starts now!"

* * *

Naruto woke up startled. He could have sworn he had heard Sakura screaming in the distance. Must have just been his ears playing tricks on him.

He stood up and stretched, feeling satisfied as his body cracked in several places. He was stiff and sore from the hard training he had put himself through the last ten days. Unfortunately, other than the session he did with Team 10, all of his training had been alone. He had looked everywhere for Kakashi, but hadn't been able to find him in the village. Naruto knew Kakashi was training Sakura in the afternoons but he didn't want to interrupt that.

After a quick trip to the bathroom, Naruto was surprised when he heard a knock on his door. "Just a minute" he shouted as he quickly, gathered his stuff together and tried to make his apartment look somewhat decent. He ended up shoving a lot of the clutter to a corner of the room in hopes that whoever was at the door wouldn't look there. Naruto opened the door and was greeting by a man with dark hair drawn back in a spiky pony tail and a long scar across his nose.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed his guest in a hug.

Iruka let out a chuckle and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Hey there Naruto. I heard you've been back in the village for a while. You haven't stopped by the academy so I thought I'd come say hi."

Naruto let go of the hug and gave Iruka a big grin. "Yeah, sorry I haven't stopped by. I've been really busy training for the Chunin exams. You'd be amazed at how strong I've gotten!"

A slight frown crossed Iruka's face. "Yeah, that's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. I heard your team was signing up for the exam. Naruto… you feel ready for the exams, right? I mean, you're not being forced to go right?"

A puzzled look crossed Naruto's face. "Yeah, I feel ready. What's wrong Iruka-sensei?"

"Oh nothing, I'm just a little worried it's too soon for your team to be competing. I'm probably just being a worry wart." Iruka scratched the back of his head and gave Naruto a warm smile. "After all, you must be strong and ready if you're going to be the future Hokage right?"

"Yeah!" Naruto responded, "You bet your ass that I'm going to be the Hokage someday! Believe-"

"Language!" Iruka scolded. "You're still in your pajamas so you probably haven't eaten yet. Go get ready and I'll take you somewhere to eat."

"Awesome! Thanks Iruka-sensei!" Naruto spent the next ten minutes taking a quick shower and then pulling on his usually orange training attire. He then spent another ten minutes arguing with Iruka on the virtues of ramen and why it would be a good choice of food for breakfast. Iruka, as always, had to put on his figurative instructor hat and lecture Naruto on the value of a healthy diet. Naruto, as always, had to be the difficult student who ignored Iruka's sensible teachings and instead tried saying that ramen was scientifically proven to be the best meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only thing that made Naruto finally give up was when Iruka politely asked him if he could even spell 'scientifically'.

They walked through town and made their way to a food stand. There, Iruka ordered them some eggs, rice, and vegetables. While waiting for their food, Naruto gave Iruka his exaggerated version of what had happened during his mission in the Land of Waves.

Iruka sighed. "Naruto, you need to eat some vegetables. You can't just hog the rice and eggs."

"Fine!" Naruto scooped a very small spoonful of vegetables onto his plate that had a miniature mountain of rice topped with eggs. "Anyways, like I was saying, there we were pinned down by a super powerful Hunter-nin from Kiri who was trying to turn us to water with her freaky black water jutsu. Not even Kakashi-sensei was in a condition to do anything about it! Everyone turned to me and I had to pretty much beat her single handedly!" He shoved some food in his mouth and continued to talk as he chewed. "It's no big deal, I just had to save THE Copy-nin and one of THE Seven Swordsmen."

Iruka nodded with a smile. "Wow Naruto good thing you were around." Iruka started to stroke his chin as he contemplated something. "But that does sound different than the mission report I read. Are you sure that Sasuke wasn't helping you out?"

Naruto nearly choked. "No! Well… I guess he was there… but he hardly did anything."

Iruka shook his head. "I'll have to tell Kakashi to write up better reports. Your stories of what happened are so different… and I know there's no way you would be stretching the truth, right Naruto?"

"Uhhh", Naruto hesitated and decided to change the subject, "speaking of Kakashi, do you know where I can find him? I've been looking everywhere for him during the day and can't find him. I want to start training together as a team."

Iruka stopped eating. _'So Team 7 isn't meeting together to train huh? Well that's concerning.'_ "He has you three training separately?"

Naruto nodded while he continued to shove food into his mouth. Iruka was pretty sure that Naruto's stomach was just some endless void where food disappeared from existence.

"Well Naruto, you should check by the Memorial Stone." Iruka replied.

"The Memorial Stone? What's that?" Naruto asked.

"It's a monument to the ninja that have died in service to the village."

"So why would Kakashi-sensei be there?"

"Just trust me, he'll be there." Iruka fell silent for a moment as he contemplated something. "Naruto, can I give you some advice? I think you'd be better off trying to talk to your teammates personally and train together without Kakashi for the time you have left before you have to leave. Kakashi tends to procrastinate things and you three will probably not get together at all if you leave it up to him to organize something." Iruka had the uneasy feeling that he was undermining Kakashi.

"Yeah that makes sense. Maybe I'll wait to talk to him until after the exams." Naruto leaned back in his chair and patted his belly. His plate was empty except for the vegetables he had spooned up earlier. "Thanks for the food Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka stood and smiled, "Don't mention it. Now then, I have to take off back to the academy but before I go I wanted to tell you something." Iruka leaned down and put his hands on Naruto's shoulders. "Naruto, you're going to be completing against older, more experienced Genin. You're not going to be able to win every fight by running in and punching someone in the face. You need to use your head and think first before doing anything. You might be the most unpredictable student I've ever had. Use that against your opponents and you'll go far."

Naruto smiled. It wasn't often that someone went out of their way to say kind words to him. "Thanks Iruka-sensei, that means a lot coming from you."

Iruka let his hands fall off Naruto's shoulders as he stood up straight. "You deserve it Naruto. Good luck during the exams." Iruka turned and waved as he made his way back to the academy.

Naruto waved back and stood up off his stool. He started to walk the opposite way towards the clan districts. He figured he'd go find Sasuke and see if he wanted to train together. He had thought about talking to Sakura, but she was probably too busy with her current internship and training schedule.

Before too long, Naruto noticed that the crowds were thinning out. He had never visited the Uchiha district before, but he knew where it was generally located. Soon enough he found himself at a large gate with the red and white Uchiha symbol above it. There was a sharp contrast between the path that lead past the gate and other surrounding roads. From what Naruto could see, the road inside the gate hadn't received any housekeeping in some time. Dead leafs cluttered the ground among the dark buildings.

Naruto walked past the gate and looked around to see if he could figure out where Sasuke lived. An eerie silence hung in the air. Somehow the place felt tainted which made Naruto feel uneasy. The buildings weren't in very good shape. Windows were cracked and signs were hanging crooked, a clear indication that the weather was taking a toll on the buildings. Naruto came to a junction and observed more of the same no matter which way he looked. The sun was now high in the sky, but this whole place seemed dark.

"Who can live in a place like this?" Naruto muttered out loud. It was then that something caught his attention. One of the houses had the area around it cleaned and a fresh bundle of wild flowers placed on the doorstep. The house itself was still in shambles, but someone had obviously been there recently. Maybe Sasuke lived there?

Naruto made his way over and knocked on the door. Nothing happened and Naruto couldn't hear anyone inside. Looking around, curiosity got the best of him as he pushed the door open. It opened with an audible creaking noise. Naruto made his way inside and was careful not to step on the flowers. The house for the most part was well kept. Dusty sure, but things were still in place. No one had been in here for a long time.

Naruto walked into the main living area and noticed something odd. Underneath the dust on the ground, Naruto could barely make out some weird looking dark stains. Squinting to get a better look, Naruto crouched down and wiped some of the dust away with his hand.

The stains were old blood. They were everywhere.

Naruto stumbled backwards in a panic. Something very bad had happened in this place. He bumped into a table and heard glass break as a photo fell off the table. He glanced down and noticed the picture had landed facing up. The picture was a family photo. A younger kid version of Sasuke was in the center of the photo with what were presumably his parents standing behind him. There was also another man Naruto didn't recognize standing by them with dark lines under his eyes. He looked older than Sasuke but younger than the father. Maybe a brother?

"What are you doing here?!"

The sudden noise nearly made Naruto jump out of his shoes. Looking back the way he had come, Sasuke was standing at the entrance to the room with his Sharingan blazing. He did not look very happy.

"I was just looking for you when I accidentally…"

"Get out." Sasuke ordered in deathly quiet voice.

Naruto put his hands up. "Ok, ok geez." Naruto walked past Sasuke back towards the door of the house. "Sasuke, I didn't mean to-"

Naruto was cut off as he felt Sasuke give him a hard shove from behind which caused him to stumble outside of the house. Now Naruto felt irritated.

"What the hell man?! Shoving me when my back is turned?!" Naruto accused the Uchiha.

Sasuke glared back at the blonde, Sharingan still active. "Get out of my district."

Naruto took a deep breath. Sasuke was a jerk but he usually wasn't THIS much of a dick. Obviously Naruto had done something wrong. "Sasuke listen to me for a second, I came here to find you to see if you wanted to train with me. I've seen some of the other teams training together and it seems to be working out for them. I didn't come here too piss you off."

"You want to train huh?" Sasuke barely muttered out loud. Suddenly, Sasuke threw a punch which connected with Naruto's face sending him backwards.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Naruto yelled rubbing his cheek.

Sasuke got into his fighting stance. "I thought you wanted to train. There's nothing I'd rather do right now than beat your ass for sticking your nose in places it doesn't belong."

"That does it!" Naruto jumped to his feet. "I tried to come here nicely but it looks like I'll have to show you that you're not as strong as you think you are."

The next few hours proved to be very lively for the Uchiha district. It experienced more activity that it had seen in years as Naruto and Sasuke beat the hell out of each other. Sasuke had the early advantage as he easily picked Naruto apart in one-on-one in Taijutsu using his Sharingan. It didn't take Naruto long to realize he was fighting a losing fight, so he brought in a group of shadow clones. Initially, Sasuke tried to take them on hand to hand, but it became evident that his undeveloped Sharingan couldn't keep up with multiple opponents at once. The tides turned to Naruto's favor as him and his clones delivered blow after blow to the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped back away from the group assault and wove some hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" The Narutos tried to scatter, but most of the clones were caught up and disappeared in the fireball. Sasuke felt some of his anger leave in the heat of battle. Destroying Naruto clones was a near therapeutic experience for him.

"Hey Sasuke", one of the Narutos spoke up, "How many fireballs do you think you can make?"

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Why?"

Naruto grinned. "Because I can make clones all day long."

Sure enough, Naruto created a few dozen more clones which attacked the Uchiha as a pack. Sasuke didn't try to fight them hand-to-hand for very long, knowing that doing so would only result in him taking more damage. Instead, he simply created some distance and launched another fireball to thin the clones out.

Like clockwork, Naruto responded by creating another group of clones… to which Sasuke responded by launching another fireball. They repeated this a dozen more times.

Sasuke was panting. The freaking Dobe was going to make him wear himself out using fire Ninjutsu. He could see that Naruto was breathing hard too, but was still in better shape than the Uchiha. He would have to avoid using more Ninjutsu if he was going to beat the blonde.

Sasuke gritted his teeth has he watched Naruto create yet another group of clones _. 'Think Sasuke, what's that loser's weakness?!'_ Sasuke thought to himself as he braced himself for the coming fight. His eyes went wide as a realization occurred to him. _'Naruto sucks at being a ninja….'_

Instead of fighting, Sasuke turned tail and ran away. He turned the corner around a building and entered an alleyway.

Naruto, in hot pursuit, came around the alleyway a few seconds later with his clones. "HA! I got you-"

There was nobody there.

Naruto let out a growl of frustration. "Running away huh? Well don't think you're going to get away that easily!" Naruto motioned to the surrounding streets. "Find him."

The group of clones separated and jumped onto rooftops or ran into the surrounding streets. It didn't take long for them to spread out and cover a large searching area.

The real Naruto was looking around from the top of a tree when a thought popped into his brain. One of his clones had just been destroyed.

In a quick rush, he and all of his clones in the surrounding area started to rush towards the spot where the clone had disappeared. They all came to a stop as another thought came to them that another one of the clones had been destroyed in route. Neither of the destroyed clones had seen Sasuke coming.

"That Bastard is hiding out and ambushing my clones!" Naruto growled. He needed to get them all back together. He was about to shout out for them all to regroup when the thoughts of another destroyed clone popped into his head.

Then another.

And another.

The path that Sasuke was destroying the clones was coming at Naruto from behind. Whether Sasuke knew it or not, he'd be attacking the real Naruto soon. Naruto balled his fists and waited. He thought about the distance and timing between each of his clones being destroyed and made a quick judgement call on when the Uchiha would get to him.

Right on schedule, Naruto felt another clone get attacked.

Naruto closed his eyes and waited. He had to wait to react until just the right moment. He took a deep breath. _'3….2…'_

"1!" Naruto shouted as he simultaneously leaned down and planted his hands on the ground right as Sasuke's leg passed by where Naruto's head had just been. Naruto then proceeded to lift his legs and donkey kick his attacker as hard as he could. Naruto felt his feet contact flesh which sent Sasuke flying with an audible grunt.

Naruto hurry and stood, turning around victoriously. "HA! You thought you could sneak up on me!"

Sasuke was lying on the ground clutching his gut. "You… moron… I guessed you were the real one… you were waiting for me." Sasuke gasped.

"Oh really? Then why did you still attack me?" Naruto gloated.

"So I could get in close to do this", Sasuke drew two kunai and threw them to the far right and far left of Naruto. It was then that Naruto noticed that each kunai was attached to some wire and that a wire loop was closing fast around Naruto.

"Shit!" Naruto shouted, but it was too late. The wire closed tightly around his arms as the two kunai stuck into buildings to the far right and far left of Naruto.

In a near instant, Sasuke jumped to his feet and drew a kunai which he put to the trapped Naruto's throat. "Do you yield?"

To his surprise, Naruto smiled back. "How about you yield?"

Sasuke was confused until he turned his head and found himself staring closely at the pointy end of a kunai. Several clones had appeared behind him and had kunai drawn on various parts of his body.

He turned his head back around when the real Naruto started talking again. "They figured out the same thing I did. You were going to be attacking the real me, so they gathered around and waited for you."

Sasuke closed his eyes and gave a small smile. "You know, if this was a real fight I could probably kill you and dispel them all before they could do any damage to me."

"Maybe", Naruto retorted, "But then again, maybe all of them could move fast enough to kill you before you could actually do anything to me."

"Maybe" Sasuke responded as he lowered his kunai and cut the wire that was enclosed around Naruto's arms. He deactivated his Sharingan.

A few seconds later Naruto dispelled all of his clones.

Silence hung in the air for a minute before Naruto finally spoke up. "Sasuke, what happened here?"

Sasuke didn't initially respond as he looked off to the side to stare at nothing in particular. Naruto wanted to press him for answers, but decided to bite his tongue.

"That was my brother you saw in that picture." Sasuke spoke still looking off to the side. "His name is Itachi Uchiha. He's the one who massacred my clan."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "So that house I was in, that was your…."

"Yeah, that was my family home growing up. The living area you were in was were Itachi murdered my parents on their knees." Sasuke felt a flash of anger at his brother. It was a grudge he was well acquainted with.

Naruto looked down at the ground. "I'm so sorry Sasuke, I had no idea. I wouldn't have gone in there if…. If I had known."

Sasuke closed his eyes. "Well now you know."

Naruto stood silent. It all made sense now. Sasuke's goal and ambition was to kill his brother.

Sasuke, who decided there wasn't anything else that needed to be said, turned to leave. He was stopped when he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

"It was the Kyubi."

Sasuke turned his head confused. "The Kyubi? What does have to do with-"

"A few weeks ago you asked what that red chakra was when me and you fought the Hunter-nin in the Land of Waves. I'm not for certain but I think that was the Kyubi's chakra. The Yondaime didn't kill the fox, he sealed it inside an orphan baby. That baby was me." Naruto said.

Sasuke looked long and hard at Naruto trying to figure him out. This seemed like the most far-fetched joke that Naruto could come up with which, for some reason, he was choosing to use now. That being said, Sasuke could see that Naruto was being very serious. He wasn't grinning or trying to act funny.

"You're serious?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah."

"The 9 tailed Fox is alive and it's inside-"

"Yeah it's inside me."

Sasuke didn't say anything. For once in his life he was baffled, unsure what to do with that information.

Naruto looked sadly at the ground. "I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that I'm a monster. Most people do."

Sasuke shook his head. "I've seen what a real monster looks like. That monster doesn't look like you."

Naruto nodded, giving a sad smile. "Thanks Sasuke."

Sasuke gave him a brief nod. "We still have a couple more hours of daylight. Why don't you come to the Uchiha training grounds so I can keep kicking your ass? That is, unless you're too tired to keep training…"

The comment had the desired effect. Instantly, Naruto broke out of his mood and resumed his usual hyperactive demeanor. "Too tired? Please, this was just a light warm up for me. I'll…"

Sasuke smiled as he listened to the loud ranting of his…..

Friend.

* * *

Ino ran towards the village gate, still trying to jam items into her pack. She was late, but what could they expect of her? It wasn't easy for a girl to pack for an extended trip with Sasuke. This was a unique opportunity for her to spend time around him and she had to be on her A game. That meant packing much more beauty products and clothes than usual.

The gate came into sight with a group of people waiting underneath. There was a large group traveling together to Kusagakure for the Chunin exams. Amongst them were the rookie groups of Team 7, 8, and 10.

She laughed awkwardly as she received a lot of annoyed glares when she finally reached the group. "Ha sorry about that. I guess time seemed to sneak away from me. I didn't realize it was so late." Her comment did little to lighten the mood of the group, but at least the majority of them stopped staring at her. The mass slowly started to walk outside the gates.

Ino walked for about 20 minutes with the crowd before finally spotting the rest of Team 10, minus Asuma. They were on the other side of the group looking awkwardly away from her. Were they avoiding her? Oh Hell no.

She briskly walked over to them and got their attention. "Hey guys, I've been looking for you for a while now. It's almost as if you have been avoiding me." She said sarcastically.

Shikamaru sighed. "Dang she spotted us. Now the whole crowd is going to hate us to."

"Yeah Ino, why did you have to be so late?" Choji piped in as he munched on a bag of chips.

"Oh excuse me for being a little late! You two must be soooo embarrassed to be seen with me!" Ino spat back.

"I just didn't want to stand out and put an early target on my back. We are going to be competing against these other Genin after all." Shikamaru replied, placing his hands behind his head as he walked.

Ino crossed her arms angrily. "Well then, I'll go find someone else to walk with. I had brought some of my mom's homemade cookies to share with you two but I guess I'll give them to someone else."

Choji inhaled deeply. "Homemade cookies! Ino please forgive me, it was all Shikamaru's idea! I wasn't trying to avoid you!"

Ino acted like she didn't hear Choji and walked away into the crowd leaving Shikamaru to deal with a frantic Choji. She heard him calling her name but she chose to ignore him. Served both of them right for being jerks.

As she made her way forward she spotted some familiar pink, orange, and blue outfits. She pushed her way through the crowd until she could hear Sakura's voice.

"… there were a couple of times that I thought she was really going to kill me. I know Kakashi-sensei wanted me doing some basic combat training, but that Anko lady was a real psycho."

Ino stepped in line with them. "Hey guys."

Sakura and Naruto turned their heads and greeted her with a "Hey Ino!" Sasuke kept facing forward.

Ino stared at her love interest hungrily. "So Sasuke are you excited for the exams? I bet you're going to crush it. While we're in Kusa we'll have to go grab dinner togeth-"

"Ino", Sasuke cut in, "you're not going to be annoying the entire trip are you?"

Ino sighed. It appeared that Sasuke's eventual love for her hadn't blossomed yet.

She was brought out of her thoughts by Naruto's voice. "Hey Ino, why do you have such a huge pack?"

She readjusted her backpack. It was pretty heavy. "Because girls need to bring more stuff with them when they go on extended trips."

Naruto scratched his chin. "But Sakura's backpack isn't that big?"

Sakura grinned, "Yeah Ino, I hope you didn't pack a bunch of stuff to try to impress Sasuke while you're supposed to be focusing on the Chunin exams."

Ino gave a light blush. "Whatever, Forehead you just don't care about your looks and you Naruto are an idiot!"

"Hey who you calling an idiot?!" Naruto shook his fist at her.

Ino grinned, he was so predicable in his reactions. "You apparently. By the way, did you tell Sasuke and Sakura about our match?"

Sakura turned her head in surprise. "You two fought?" Even Sasuke arched an eyebrow in curiosity.

Naruto's faced paled. "Uhhh kind of, it wasn't a big deal at all though. Nothing serious at all, we were just-"

"Not a big deal?!", Ino cut in, "Naruto came and joined us for a training session. He threw a freaking army of shadow clones at us after we were already tired from training for a few hours. It didn't matter though, Team 10 got the win! I was even the one to deal the final blow to him that ended the match."

Surprisingly, Sasuke was the one to respond. "Wow Dobe, I can't believe you lost to Ino."

"I didn't lose to her, I lost to all of Team 10! I would have won if she hadn't pulled out a cheap trick!" Naruto responded defensively.

"Cheap trick? Ino, what did you do?" Sakura asked.

"What did I do?" Ino gave a wicked grin and walked up behind Naruto. She placed her arms on his shoulders and leaned her head by his. "All I did was bat my eyelashes and let my hair down. He left himself wide open for attack as he was dumbfounded by my beauty."

Naruto blushed wildly as Sakura laughed. He shrugged Ino off his shoulders. "Whatever, it was a cheap trick. If we were to fight now, I'd beat you in under 5 seconds."

"HAHA 5 seconds?! You got to be kidding me! You wouldn't be able to beat me at all!" Ino responded.

"Wanna bet?" said Naruto with an evil grin. "I have been working on a technique especially for you. I'm pretty sure I have it perfected."

Ino stepped off to the side on the trail and dropped her large backpack. "Prove it, let's fight right now. If I win, you have to carry my bag all the way to Kusa. If you win I'll… give you some homemade cookies."

"Pft that's not fair at all! Cookies wouldn't be worth carrying your huge bag all the way to Kusa." Naruto responded.

"What? I thought you could beat me in under 5 seconds?" Ino mocked. "Whatever, if you win I'll give you some homemade cookies and I'll buy you a bowl of Ramen."

"You're on!" Naruto shouted as him and his teammates stepped off the path. Naruto dropped his bag and got into a fighting stance. "Sakura, once we begin will you count to 5?"

Sakura nodded, curious as to what new technique Naruto had up his sleeve.

Naruto turned to face Ino. "You ready Ino?"

Ino drew a kunai in each hand and got them at the ready. Naruto really was an idiot if he thought he could beat her in under 5 seconds. "Yeah, I'm ready. Time starts when you make the first move." She assumed her fighting position.

Naruto smiled back at her. "Don't blink."

Ino gave him a curious look. "Why do you say tha-"

"Reverse Sexy Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he brought his hands together. He disappeared in a cloud of smoke, which soon dissipated.

Ino's eyes went wide. Standing there in front of her was Sasuke… and he was naked.

Ino fainted in less than a second.

* * *

 _Extra:_

 _Shortly after the third ninja war_

It had been over a month since the meetings with the teachers. Since then, Zakaza and the Master had gone around and collected all the available orphans from the minor villages. The group of travelers steadily increased as the weeks passed. Eventually the group became so large that the Master would leave Zakaza and the traveling orphans outside of the villages when he went in to collect more.

Zakaza learned that he hadn't planned for everything before collecting the orphans. It wasn't until after they had adopted their first batch of kids that he wondered how they were all going to get food and water during their trip. There would be too many mouths to feed.

Luckily, it appeared that the Master had everything covered. A few times a day he would stop and bring out a scroll and summon a box full of dried food and a barrel of fresh water, which he would feed to the traveling group. When or how the Master had acquired all this food and water was a mystery to Zakaza. He had never seen the Master buy any sort of bulk dried food before.

Eventually, a month passed and they made their final stop to pick up the teachers before heading back towards their home deep in the mountains of Iwa. Zakaza had lost count of the group size, but he knew it was in the thousands. A small army of children with a couple hundred teachers. He wanted to ask the Master some questions but had been unable to get any alone time with him. The Master was constantly mingling and talking with the orphans.

The orphans themselves looked like they had seen better days. Most had become orphans due to the war. The large increase in children inside the orphanages the last year meant that basic needs were not always met. Most, if not all, the children looked underweight for their age. Their clothes were too small, tattered, and dirty. Zakaza knew they would play a role in the Master's larger plan, but he still felt empathy for them.

The large group came to a steep hill and started to make their way up. As to avoid unwanted attention, the Master had lead the group off the main roads and onto old paths as they traveled back towards the Land of Earth. The paths were rough, and hadn't seen a fresh footprint in quite some time. Most of the group had to exert themselves greatly as they traveled.

Along the trip Zakaza had been wondering if anyone would try to back out of the journey. It wasn't until they had reached this steep hill after several days of traveling that someone finally decided to call it quits.

One of the teachers, an elderly man, stumbled backwards as he lost his footing and rolled to the bottom of the hill. The group came to a halt as some of the orphans that were still at the bottom of the hill helped the poor man up.

"That's it!" The old man shouted. "I'm not going a step further! When I signed up for this I didn't think I would be bushwhacking the whole way! I'm going home, the money is not worth it."

The Master, who was at the top of the hill, turned around and shouted a response. "Sir, I would recommend that you stay with us. Remember, you signed a Blood contract."

The old man waved him off. "Blood contract? You think I really believe in that silly thing?" The old man turned around and started to walk away back down the path they had come. "Nope, while you all die on the trail, I'm going to go home, buy a large bottle of Sake and-" The man came to a sudden stop.

Zakaza flinched as he watched the man suddenly grab his head and start to scream. The man stumbled around and turned just long enough for Zakaza to get a glimpse of his face. Blood was coming from his eyes, ears, and nose. The man's eye's had turned black as night. Children in the area started to scream and run away from him.

The man screamed and stumbled around for about another minute before he fell to the ground dead.

The entire group, both adults and children, were rendered silent.

The Master was the first to speak to the group. "I hope this can serve as an example to all you teachers. The power of a Blood contract is very real. When you signed your name, you committed to arriving at the location of my choosing and teaching my dear orphans. Breaking that contract will result in death which, as you just witnessed, is a very unpleasant way to go. Now let's put this matter behind us and continue on! No need to dwell on the dead!" The Master tried to sound cheerful.

No one spoke the rest of the day.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Secrets revealed and our ninja are finally on their way to the exams. Next chapter we'll meet some of the other participants and we'll get introduced to the first test of the exam.**

 **So a couple of review responses:**

 **Raphaim- I started laughing after I read your comment. You're right, I do have a bad habit of spelling "Yeah" as "Ya". I grew up in a small town and picked up some bad grammar that sometimes still gets me. I made a conscious effort to spell it the right way this chapter and will try to continue to do so in future chapters. Thanks!**

 **I also wanted to give a special thanks to Bj and CherryBlossomsBlooming for their reviews. I know I'm not the best writer in the world and that posting any sort of writing on the internet for others to read would inevitably result in people writing insulting reviews. About two months ago, I got my first insulting review when someone accused me of logging in as a guest and leaving reviews on my own story. The review also said that I need to rewrite the story and that NaruIno is a bad pairing. I knew insulting reviews was just part of the gig of writing fanfiction so I was just going to ignore it. What surprised me is when Bj and CherryBlossomsBlooming came to my defense and voiced their support for the story in their reviews. It's nice when people go out of their way to be kind.**

 **Thank you all who are kind enough to leave reviews in support of the story!**

 **We're going to continue the question where we left off last chapter. I'm not going to be giving everyone summoning animals in this story, but hypothetically what animal would each member of Team 8 be matched with?**

 **Kiba- My honest answer is a dog but I wish it were a cat. How funny would it be if he was matched with a cat as his summoning animal?**

 **Hinata- Tough one. Is there something that is shy and has great eyesight? Maybe some kind of bird? I'm honestly drawing a blank on her….. Maybe a snow leopard? They seem like a really shy creature that might have good eyesight?**

 **Shino- A Big Ol Bug!**


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Kakashi sighed as he watched in the distance as Naruto ran away from a mob of girls up the road. Apparently they had taken issue with how his student had put Sasuke's mystique on display.

Kakashi shook his head and returned to reading his book. He was walking at the back of the large crowd that had gathered to travel to the Chunin exams together. He was accompanied by some of the other Jounin instructors, Kurenai and Asmua.

"How can you stand to read that filth so openly in public?" Kurenai scoffed.

"What can I say, I guess I'm just an open book" Kakashi replied with an eye smile. "No pun intended".

Kurenai rolled her eyes but decided to let the issue drop.

"Hmmm looks like the group is going the wrong way." Asuma commented, looking ahead. The traveling group had come to an intersection with a road leading west and a road leading south. Those at the front of the group were leading them south, towards the southern coast of the Land of Fire. "We need to keep heading west to get to Kusa."

Kakashi and Kurenai made eye contact and then started to chuckle. "You didn't read the travel plans, did you?" Kurenai questioned.

Asuma looked confused. "Well… no but aren't we just heading to Kusa?"

"If your question is 'are we heading to the Land of Grass for the Chunin exams', then the answer is no. At least not for the first exam. Only the second and third part of the exams are being held in the Land of Grass." Kakashi responded.

Asuma scratched the back of his head. "So Kusa is hosting the exams… but we aren't heading to the Land of Grass…"

Kurenai smiled and nudged Asuma in the arm. "Think about it. What place is controlled by Kusa, but isn't actually in the Land of Grass."

Realization came upon Asuma as his eyes went wide. "Ah so we're taking the Genin to-"

Kakashi shut his book abruptly with a loud 'snap'. "Be quiet for a second… do you two hear that?"

The two listened for a few seconds, but couldn't hear anything other than the sounds of the crowd. Suddenly, they heard the word 'Youth' echo softly in the wind. Asuma and Kurenai started to chuckle.

Out of the tree line behind them came a green blur followed by three students. The green blur rapidly approached, jumped, and landed in front of the Jounin.

A tall man with a black bowl haircut stood up straight and pointed at Kakashi. "Ah ha! There you are Kakashi! I was hoping to catch up to you and issue a challenge on the road! Today I will finally pull ahead in our rivalry!"

"Hi Guy", Kakashi sighed. This was going to be a long walk.

* * *

Kiba let out a loud laugh as he watched Naruto get pummeled by a group of girls whom had finally caught the fleeing blonde. "Say Hinata, do you think we should hop in there and give Naruto a hand?"

Standing next to Kiba and her other teammate Shino, Hinata watched with a worried expression. "Y-y-yeah… I-I-I suppose we c-c-could-"

Before they could do anything, the Naruto being pummeled disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving a confused mob of girls. "It's a clone! Let's find him, he can't have gone far!" The mob of Sasuke fan-girls split up into different directions.

The students of Team 8 were startled as they heard a whisper behind them. "Is the coast clear?"

They turned around to find a little old lady with whisker marks following close behind them. This 'little old lady' soon disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by Naruto.

Kiba gave him a toothy grin. "Pretty clever there squirt, I thought I was going to have to save your sorry ass."

"Keep dreaming dog breath, like I'd ever need your help in a fight" Naruto shot back.

This comment got an angry bark from the ground. Looking down, Naruto spotted Kiba's puppy Akamaru glaring up at him.

"Sorry, no offense Akamaru." It was then that Naruto noticed that Hinata's face looked very red. "Are you ok Hinata? Your face looks like a tomato." He leaned in close to get a better look.

Hinata's breath caught in her throat. ' _He is so close!_ ' "h-h-h-hi N-N-Naruto…. I just…. I mean… tomatoes are r-r-red." _'Why did I say something so stupid?!'_

Naruto smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. "Slow down, it's ok. What are you trying to say?"

' _Naruto is touching me!'_ The world started to spin around Hinata as she grew dizzy.

Luckily, Kiba knew his teammate well and walked up and put an arm around her shoulders to support her body. "I think what she is trying to say is that she is fine. Now why don't you give her some room huh?"

"Uh sure" Naruto said awkwardly, taking his hand off Hinata's shoulder. "Are you guys excited for the exams?"

"Hell yeah! I'm just surprised they allowed someone like you to sign up." Kiba teased. "I would have thought you would need another year to get stronger."

Naruto gave him a confident grin. "I'm different than I was back in the academy. I've gotten stronger… but I guess I'll just have to show you during the exams. "

"Really?" a voice sounded behind Naruto.

The voice nearly made Naruto jump out of his shoes. "Oh man Shino, I forgot you were there!"

"You should pay better attention to your surroundings." Shino's neutral voice droned on. "I'm curious, why do you think you've gotten so much stronger?"

Naruto started to respond. "Well first off I learned a cool new jutsu called Kage-"

"Naruto", a voice cut him off. Turning, Naruto saw Sasuke standing a few feet away. ' _How long has he been there?'_

"Don't forget that everyone else here is our competition", Sasuke continued, "don't share information that can be used against us later on."

"Yeah, yeah I know" Naruto grunted. He hated to admit it, but Sasuke had a point. He shouldn't be blabbing off his techniques to everyone, even if they are his friends.

"Good" Sasuke responded. He then turned to Team 8. "You three should be careful too. The Dobe here is a pervert that likes to transform into naked versions of other people." He glared at Naruto.

Hinata's mind was nearly overwhelmed at the sound of 'Naruto' and 'naked' used in the same sentence.

"Hey, I was just trying to win a bet." Naruto responded. "You have to admit, the results speak for themselves. I beat Ino in like a second by transforming into you."

Sasuke glared at him a bit longer before closing his eyes and smirking. "Yeah you did beat her. You'll have to work better on your Henge technique though. You were much too… small… in some places. Maybe you forgot to transform that part of your body?"

Sasuke walked away leaving Naruto with his mouth dropped open. Kiba fell to the ground rolling with laughter. Even Shino chuckled.

* * *

Eventually, the traveling crowd reached a port on the southern border of the Land of Fire. Kakashi informed Team 7 that they'd be spending the night there, and that they'd be setting sail early in the morning. Sakura tried asking why they were on the southern part of the Land of Fire when Kusagakure was West, but Kakashi dismissed the question with a "you'll see."

The small port was busy with excitement from the new travelers. It took a while, but eventually Team 7 found the inn where they would be staying the night. The Jounin instructors were set up in their own rooms, while each student team had to share a room. Naruto was just rolling out his sleeping pad when they received a knock on the door.

Curiously, Sakura walked over and opened the door. Standing there was Ino, with her arms crossed tapping her foot.

"Finally I found your guys room!" Ino almost shouted. "I've been trying to find you guys for the last 15 minutes."

"Hey Ino, let me guess you're looking for Sasuke?" Sakura responded.

"Actually… no. Is Naruto around?" Ino questioned.

Sakura looked surprised. "Uh yeah Naruto is here." She turned inside, "Naruto, you have company."

Naruto walked over to the doorway with a curious look on his face. "Ino?" He then grinned. "You haven't come to have our tiebreaker match have you?"

"Ha", Ino dryly responded. "That was a dirty, no good trick you pulled earlier, but a bet is a bet. There's a Ramen stand a few blocks away. You hungry?"

"Am I hungry for Ramen? Hell yeah!" Naruto shouted triumphantly. "Let's go!"

"Easy there Blondie, bet or no bet I'm not going to buy you dinner looking and smelling like that. Wash up and put on a fresh set of clothes and meet me outside in 45 minutes." Ino replied.

"What's wrong with the way I smell?" Naruto sniffed the front of his shirt.

"You've been walking in the sun and sweating like a boy all day long. You definitely don't smell like roses." Ino stated bluntly.

"Ok, ok, I get it. I'll hurry and take a shower." Naruto said waving his arms defensively. He then crossed his arms and muttered to himself, "Geez, you probably don't smell all that good yourself."

"WHAT WAS TH-" Ino was cut off as Sakura quickly shut the door shaking her head.

Naruto spent the next 45 minutes taking a hot shower and then changing into a set of clean clothes. He wore his typical orange pants with a blue shirt, forgoing his usual orange jacket. He started to put on his forehead protector, but then thought it looked silly without the rest of his ninja attire. He untied it and put it in his pocket, not wanting to leave it behind.

When 45 minutes had passed, he ventured outside to see if he could find Ino. Soon enough, he spotted her by the street so he made his way towards her.

As he neared, he felt his stomach tie into a knot. Ino was standing there with a hand on her hip, and a white purse in the other hand. She was wearing a sleeveless tight purple dress that came down to just below her knee. A white pearl necklace stood out against the purple dress. Small diamond studded earrings sparkled in the fading light. Ino looked…. beautiful.

She spoke up as he neared. "I like the blue shirt, but you just couldn't lose the orange pants, could you?"

"Hey orange is the best color, just consider yourself lucky that I put on a blue shirt." Naruto responded.

"Orange has to be the tackiest clothing color."Ino teased with a smile. "Don't worry whiskers, spend a few hours with me and you just might learn some fashion sense."

"Yeah whatever" Naruto shrugged the comment off. "You sure got dressed up."

"Yeah, well I packed all these nice clothes all the way here and it doesn't look like Sasuke is interested in spending time together. I figured I'd wear it tonight, that way I didn't pack them for nothing." Ino responded while smoothing out the bottom of her dress. "Go ahead and make your jokes, I know you think it's silly that I-"

"I think you look beautiful!" Naruto blurted out quickly before his brain could stop him.

Ino blinked a few times, caught off guard by the comment. "Oh", a small smile crept across her face, "thanks". She motioned with her hand and started to walk. "Come on, let's eat. You wouldn't want Sakura to look out the window and see you gawking at me all night." She said with a wink.

Naruto let out a groan of annoyance but put his hands behind his head and walked beside her. They walked a few blocks in silence until they arrived at a small ramen shack with some stools.

An elderly lady with grey hair pulled back into a bun greeted them with a warm smile. "Hello there, what can I get you tonight?"

The two of them took a seat. "Miso ramen for me please!" Naruto said excitedly.

Ino thought for a second. "Do you serve any kind of salads here?"

Naruto gave her a look as if she had just uttered the worst kind of blasphemy. "A salad? Ino, you don't come to a Ramen shack and order a salad!"

Ino looked defensive. "What's wrong with a salad? Vegetables are healthy and keep you fit."

"Eh, I'd take a bowl of ramen over some crusty old salad any day. Come on, have some Miso ramen, I promise you won't regret it." Naruto responded.

Ino sighed. "Fine, I'll have what he's having."

The old lady nodded. "Coming right up."

Naruto turned his stool so he was facing Ino and leaned against the counter. "Man, I'm excited to eat this, especially since it will be free…. for me anyways."

"Pft, laugh it up while you can Blondie. Someday we'll have our tiebreaker match and I'll wipe that grin off of your face." Ino retorted. "Naruto… are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"About the Chunin exams?" Naruto thought about it for a few seconds. "Maybe a little, but I'm more excited than nervous. I'm looking forward to proving myself and becoming a Chunin."

"So you can become Hokage right?" Ino finished for him with a smile.

"Yeah, so I can become Hokage." Naruto confirmed.

"That is a pretty lofty goal Mr. Uzumaki. Who are you trying to prove yourself to anyways?" Ino questioned.

Naruto sat in silence for a moment, the smile vanishing from his face. "Everyone, I want to prove myself to the whole village."

"Ok, but why do you care what they think? If you want people to like you more, all you have to do is stop pulling your dumb pranks." Ino pressed.

Naruto let out an emotionless chuckle. "Ino, do you really think people hate me all because of some pranks?"

Ino looked confused. "I never said hate. I think some people get annoyed by you but I don't think they hate you Naruto."

At that moment the old lady put a bowl of steaming ramen in front of them both. Instead of instantly diving into the bowl as usually, Naruto poked around at it with some chopsticks as he thought of what to say next. "Ino, you like shopping right?"

"Love it" Ino responded.

"Did you know that I can go into about… 5 or so stores in the entire village and get a fair price? All the other stores will charge me extra or just refuse to serve me."

Ino looked puzzled. "Naruto are you sure you just aren't-"

"Have you ever noticed", Naruto cut her off, "That every time I walk down the streets, the men glare at me and the mothers with children will go out of their way to walk around me?"

Ino opened her mouth to say something, but didn't speak. She was confused _. 'What is he talking about?'_

"On my birthday I've learned to stay inside my apartment." Naruto continued on. "My birthday is the same day that we celebrate the defeat of the Kyubi. When I was younger, I made the mistake of trying to participate in the celebration. A group of drunk men saw me and started to throw bottles at me until I ran away. They tried chasing me but I got away."

Naruto looked up at Ino. For the first time, Ino briefly saw the sadness behind Naruto's eyes, past the usual confident mask that he wore.

"If that isn't hate, then I don't know what is." He simply stated.

Ino rubbed her temples. "Ok, but why do the villagers treat you like that?"

Naruto opened his mouth to say something but then closed it. After a moment he muttered "just because."

Ino didn't buy it. She was too well versed in social cues to believe that Naruto had told her everything. He was holding something back, but she decided not to press the issue…. for now anyways. Hesitantly, she reached up and gave his hand a brief reassuring squeeze. His body visibly tensed at her touch.

"I'm… not sure why the village treats you like that, but you don't have the whole world against you Naruto. You have friends too. When we get back to the village, you just point me towards the shops that won't serve you and I'll give them a piece of my mind!" Ino stated. She let her hand drop back down.

Naruto gave a small smile. "Thanks Ino."

"You bet. Now let's eat some of this ramen you keep going on about." She picked up her chopsticks and took a few bites. Her eyes went wide at the taste.

Naruto, forgetting his woes, stared at her in anticipation. "Well?..."

"It's ok I guess" Ino said as she took another bite.

"Just ok? Bullshit, your eyes went as wide as dinner plates. Have you never eaten Miso ramen before?" Naruto asked.

"I've had Miso ramen before! It's just been a while…" Ino took another bite. "ok, ok I'll admit this tastes pretty great. You happy now?"

"Very" Naruto smiled before he picked up his own chopsticks and then proceeded to inhale the bowl of ramen in front of him. Ino went to take another bite but was surprised when Naruto slammed down his empty bowl and shouted that he wanted another.

"Hey there Blondie, remember I just have to buy you one bowl. Any more bowls will be on your own tab."

"I know, I know" Naruto waved her off as the old lady behind the counter placed another steaming bowl of ramen in front of Naruto. He then proceeded to inhale the second bowl in record time.

Ino placed her chopsticks down, her ramen only about half gone. "I'm getting full, do you want the rest of mine?" She pushed her bowl over to him.

"Sure!" He picked up her bowl and inhaled the rest of the ramen.

"I don't know where you put it. If I ate like that then I'd really be an Ino-pig" Ino reached into her purse and put some money on the counter. She hesitated and then reached in her purse and placed additional money on the table. "There, I covered your second bowl Naruto so don't worry about paying."

Naruto, who was finishing slurping his last noddle, turned in surprise. "Why did you do that?"

"Oh… just because" Ino avoided the question. "Come on let's go." She got up from her stool.

Naruto followed behind her as they walked back towards their Inn. "Thanks for the ramen, I didn't even have to beat you in another match to get that second bowl" he teased.

"Like I said, laugh it up while you can. Next time we have a match I'll actually use one of my Jutsus on you." She turned and gave him evil eyes. "What are you going to do when I'm inside your brain and can control your body? See every thought and memory in your brain? Maybe I'll make you remember and relive that moment when you kissed Sasuke over and over again on an endless loop."

A sweat drop formed on Naruto's temple. "You're bluffing, you can't really do something like that can you?" he muttered fearfully.

"Oh please, with your simple brain it'll be child's play for me." She gave a low evil chuckle and then turned around to start walking again.

Naruto followed, but was a lot more cautious than before. He now understood that Ino was both nicer and much more dangerous that he had ever thought. Reliving the Sasuke kiss over and over again would be a fate worse than death.

They arrived at the Inn, first arriving at Team 7's door. "Well Naruto that was actually fun. Thanks for convincing me to get some ramen. I still owe you a homemade cookie, but unfortunately Choji got into my bag and found them first. I'll get some more when we get back to Konoha."

Naruto smiled back at her. "Thanks for dinner, even if it was just paying me back for a bet. Oh and before you go I just wanted to tell you that you're going to do great in the exams tomorrow! I really hope we don't have to compete against you guys, I really don't want you scrambling my brain."

Ino giggled, "Don't worry whiskers, I promise to be gentle."

"Gentle about what?" A voiced sounded, which caused Ino and Naruto to look towards the door.

Standing there with a knowing look was Sakura, who had just opened the door. "Did you two have fun on your... date?"

The tense silence could have been cut with a knife. Both Naruto and Ino turned pale.

"HEY! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY BRAINS IN THAT LARGE FOREHEAD OF YOURS?! ME AND NARUTO WEREN'T ON A DATE! YOU'RE JUST TRYING TO SAY THAT SO YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOUR CHANCES WITH SASUKE!" Ino shouted.

The look on Sakura's face didn't disappear as she grinned and responded with sarcasm, "Oh yeah, because you buying him dinner, wearing a dress like that… definitely wasn't a date. Silly me."

"Yeah Sakura, this wasn't a date. Ino's not my type anyways." Naruto cut it.

Ino's wrath had a new target now. "AND WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN UZUMAKI?"

Now Naruto was as pale as a ghost. "It didn't mean anything!" He tried to scramble for words in failure. "I just like Sakura, that's all."

Sakura, seizing the opportunity, cut in again. "Ooo Ino, sounds like Naruto thinks I'm prettier than you." She teased her friend.

Naruto felt his heart stop for a second. "I didn't say THAT!"

Ino lowered her voice a little so she wasn't shouting anymore. "Yeah Sakura, he didn't say that. He isn't dumb enough to think that you're prettier than me." She turned back towards Naruto, "right Naruto?"

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place. Naruto tried to think his answer through the best he could to salvage the situation without offending either girl. "I think… that you both are equally pretty."

Wrong answer.

Sakura started to giggle while Ino glared daggers into Naruto's soul. "Naruto…" Ino's voice was as cold as ice. "Did you just say that me and Forehead are equally as good looking on a night where I did my best to dress up to look good and she's just standing there in her pajamas, hair unkempt, getting ready for bed?"

' _Shit!'_ Naruto thought to himself.

"I hope we run into each other during the exams", Ino continued on. "Just remember these words Naruto: Sasuke, kiss, repeat." She slowly started to walk backwards in the hallway towards her room, never breaking eye contact with Naruto.

Naruto squirmed, "What's that suppose-"

"Sasuke… Kiss… Repeat" Ino repeated slowly as she reached up and tapped the side of her temple. "See you around Naruto." She turned and headed towards her team's room.

Naruto was left with a lump in his throat as he watched her go. He turned to see Sakura shaking her head with a smile.

"What's her problem?" Naruto asked.

"Oh Naruto, you don't understand girls at all do you?" Sakura responded.

Naruto sighed. "I guess I could still learn a thing or two."

Both turned their heads as they heard an annoyed grunt from, presumably, Sasuke inside of their room.

Sakura giggled. "I guess that's our cue to quiet down and go to bed." She made her way back into the room.

Naruto stood out in the hallway for a minute, looking down the hall at the door to Team 10's room. Other than the last little bit, he had actually really enjoyed his time with Ino. Although he'd never say it out loud, he realized tonight that he thought she was more attractive than Sakura. He felt confused. He had had a crush on Sakura for so long that he hadn't paid much attention to other girls. Maybe he should start?

He quietly walked back into his room.

* * *

All the teams were up early in the morning and placed onto boats. The boats were small and only carried about two or three teams per boat. Each sail had a large Leaf symbol placed on it. Initially, they had set sail as a group of boats all openly declaring alliance to Konoha.

Soon enough though, other boats starting appearing in the distance. These boats were larger and were made for long distance journeys. Their sails contained the symbol of their village. The first ones were from Amegakure, Kusagakure, and Sunagakure. The Leaf Jounin visibly tensed when boats bearing the symbol of Iwagakure and Kumogakure came into view. All the boats sailed in line with each other, but kept a respectable distance between the village groups. Another single boat eventually appeared, lagging behind all the others. This boat bore the musical note symbol of a mysterious new village called Otogakure.

* * *

 _On the Otogakure boat_

Dosu hadn't talked in quite a while. He and his teammates were cautious being on a small boat with their Master for so long. Orochimaru had his hair pulled back and he was disguised as a Sound Jounin instructor. He had spent most of the trip at the front of the boat looking out over the sea, leaving the sailing to his subordinates.

This had given Dosu an opportunity to ponder his relationship with Orochimaru. On one hand, he loved the man and knew that Zaku and Kin felt the same way. Orochimaru had saved the three of them from a life of want in the gutters of the streets. He had given purpose to what had been directionless lives. He gave them strength, whereas the world had given them weakness.

That was part of the problem that made their relationship complicated. Where much was given, much was required. Orochimaru had a low tolerance for failure. Failure usually meant death for the unfortunate soul that couldn't live up to expectations.

Dosu both loved and feared the man he called master.

"Dosu, you seem to have a lot on your mind. I wonder what it might be."

Dosu was immediately brought to his senses as heard Lord Orochimaru address him. He bowed his head, wondering if Orochimaru could somehow read his thoughts. "It's nothing, I'm just thinking about the upcoming mission."

"Good" Orochimaru responded with a cool voice. "Just remember, you need to get past the first exam. You'll get your opportunity to attack the Uchiha during the second part of the exam." Orochimaru gave Dosu a wicked grin. "Be sure not to disappoint me."

* * *

 _On a Iwagakure boat_

"Kurotsuchi, you really shouldn't practice that while we are sailing in open water."

Kurotsuchi opened her mouth to respond, but fell to the ground when her concentration broke. She had been levitating off the ground slightly, trying to use her grandfather's Lightened Boulder Jutsu. Levitating on a moving boat meant that the boat would pass by under her.

She rubbed her butt where she had hit the boat deck. "I know Akatsuchi! Geez, I can't even levitate for that long. I won't fall off the boat."

Akatsuchi was tall and large with a round nose. He was 16 years old and was probably going to keep growing bigger. He wore a red outfit with a yellow scarf, his forehead protector was affixed around his head in a bandana.

Akatsuchi put his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry Kurotsuchi, I just get worried that's all."

Kurotsuchi took a deep breath and calmed down. That was just like him. For how big and tough he looked on the outside, he was actually a big teddy bear on the inside. She knew he would have been a Chunin by now if he hadn't waited for her to be ready to take the Chunin exams. They were a team, and despite her insistence, he had refused to take the exams without her.

She herself probably could have been a Chunin by now if she had taken the exams earlier. She was the granddaughter of the third Tsuchikage and strong in her own right. She had mostly seen the exams as a bothersome stepping stone on her way to becoming the future Tsuchikage.

"It's ok Akatsuchi, I'll just wait to practice once we are on land." She looked over to her third teammate who was sitting at the back of the boat. "Tamaki, why are you sitting by yourself?"

This had been a problem for her third teammate. Tamaki was a shy girl that was unsure of herself. Unless prodded, Tamaki would usually spend her time alone with her ninneko, Momo. Kurotsuchi could hardly blame the girl for her shyness. Tamaki had only recently been assigned to Kurotsuchi's team about 6 months ago. As far as Kurotsuchi understood, Tamaki had been living in an abandoned city in the Land of Fire with her grandmother. The grandmother didn't want Tamaki to grow up in that type of environment, so she had sent an application in for Tamaki to become a citizen of Iwa and to enroll her in the ninja academy program. Iwa accepted her for a probation period and eventually granted Tamaki her citizenship status and allowed her to graduate from the academy. Why Tamaki's grandmother hadn't tried to send Tamaki to Konoha's ninja academy was still a mystery.

"I was just brushing Momo's hair. Sorry, I just didn't want to get hair all over where you all are sitting." Tamaki responded with a small voice. She stood up and allowed the dark haired cat to crawl up on her shoulder as she made her way closer to the group.

Kurotsuchi sighed. "Don't apologize all the time. It's not that big of a deal." She loved her teammates but they still lacked the strong Will of Stone. Both were passive souls that would need to learn to be harder. Kurotsuchi watched as Tamaki took a seat next to her.

Kurotsuchi and Tamaki couldn't have been more different. Kurotsuchi was a tomboy whereas Tamaki took a more feminine approach to life. Kurotsuchi was brash and kept her hair cut short. Tamaki was gentle and had long flowing well-groomed hair. Kurotsuchi was suited up in a sleeveless ninja uniform with a red top and black pants. Tamaki chose to wear a light red sleeveless blouse with short dark red shorts that showed off most of her legs.

"Look at those Konoha bastards, I bet they're nervous to see us." Kurotsuchi looked at her Jounin instructor, Kitsuchi, who also just happened to be her father. He was gazing out at the boats with a Leaf marked on their sail.

"You tell them dad, but maybe you should talk a little louder so they can actually hear you." Kurotsuchi commented sarcastically with a smile.

"Kurotsuchi, you should really be calling me Sensei when we are on official business for the village." Kitsuchi lectured.

"Sorry dad, it's a bad habit." She responded, to which he just shook his head. "When are we getting there anyways? We've been on this boat for days."

"Stop your whining, it won't be much longer. In fact, I can see the island right there." Kitsuchi answered.

Kurotsuchi looked out in the distance and sure enough saw a tiny island appearing. "Finally."

* * *

 _On a Kumogakure boat_

Samui let out a sigh of relief as the island came into view. Finally, they were arriving. The journey had only been a few days, but it had felt like much longer. This assignment had made her anxious, which was why the days had seemed longer.

Having only recently obtained the rank of Jounin, this was her first official assignment. She was to act as the Jounin instructor for the Kumo team that had the best prospective Genin. In truth, she wasn't their actual instructor, that title belonged to Killer Bee. Since Bee wasn't allowed to leave the village, Lord Raikage had asked her to fill in as a substitute instructor during the exams.

Samui heard some commotion and turned around to observe. Once again, Karui and Omoi were arguing over something trivial.

"Oh will you please just shut up." Karui shouted. She was picking up some scattered weapons off of the boat deck. Apparently she had dropped her kunai pouch.

"I'm just saying, you need to be careful with your kunai. What if one of them fell tip down with enough force to put a hole in the bottom of our boat." Omoi responded. "Then, that hole lets water in to fill our boat until it sinks."

"That wouldn't happen from dropping a kunai!" Karui sounded irritated.

"And then" Omoi continued, "as we were trying to swim, we got caught in a current that swept us out to sea."

Karui shook her head. "You are so dumb."

"And THEN", Omoi pressed on, "sharks found us and started eating us from the feet up? Do you want that Karui?"

Samui shook her head and decided to ignore them. Omoi had one of the most wandering minds she had ever encountered. That didn't mix well with Karui, who had a very short temper for such nonsense. Still, both were becoming skilled swordsmen and worked well together when they needed to.

Samui glanced at the very back of the boat and found the third member of the Genin team silently putting some tips onto arrow shafts. Hano Nii was the true reason there were high hopes for this team to win the whole exams. He was the prodigy of his graduating class, the younger brother of one of the most powerful Kumo shinobi, Yugito Nii. A lot of expectations had been placed on him since he graduated from the academy, and yet he seemed to be rising to meet them.

The top of his blonde hair was pulled back into a short pony tail, with the sides of his head being shaved. He wore a sleeveless white uniform top with black pants and black sandals. On his left forearm he wore a black leather gauntlet. He looked up and locked eyes with Samui, not displaying any emotion.

"Is there something you need Sensei?" he muttered.

Samui shook her head. "Nothing Hano, go back to what you were doing." Hano nodded his head and then went back to making some arrows.

Samui turned back to look at the island which was growing as they approached. She let out a deep breath to ease her anxiety. Her team might be a little dysfunctional at times, but they were the team that was going to win this whole damn thing.

* * *

 _On a Sunagakure boat_

Temari was very eager to jump off the boat as they came up onto the beach of the island. She had spent the last few days walking on eggshells around Gaara. The days at sea had made him irritable, which had resulted in him threatening her and Kankuro with their lives more than usual.

Kankuro was soon by her side. "Thank Kami we don't have to be on that damn boat with him any longer." He whispered in her ear.

She nodded as she watched their younger brother step off the boat. Gaara didn't pay them any mind, he was watching the other boats that were arriving on the beach. He stared at the other Genin hungrily, the way a wolf would stare at a flock of sheep.

The other Genin didn't know it yet but they were prey and Gaara was the predator. They'd soon learn.

* * *

Naruto and the rest of Team 7 gathered together and walked up a path through some dense woods. All around were ninja from different villages. Naruto hadn't counted on there being so many contestants.

"It's ok you three, don't let the amount of other teams psych you out." Kakashi sounded off behind them. The Team 7 Genin looked at their instructor. He gave them his signature eye smile. "You all will do just fine. This should be nothing compared to facing Zabuza right?" He chuckled, ruffling Naruto's and Sasuke's hair.

They both let out an annoyed grunt which caused Sakura to smile, despite how nervous she was feeling.

Soon enough they broke through the tree line and came upon a dark castle on the edge of a sea cliff. The structure loomed over the ninja as they approached and all gathered around the entrance. Soon enough, the gate rose and a tall pale man walked out. His hair was long and dark, and he had bags under his eyes. His whole demeanor gave off the vibe of strict authority, keeping his posture straight and wearing some sort of ruffled military uniform.

The man raised his hand which silenced the muttering crowd.

"Welcome to Hozuki Castle." The man spoke in a low solemn voice. "My name is Mui and I will be the proctor for your first exam."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Wow that was a hard one to write. I wanted to briefly introduce the Genin that will play the biggest roles during the Chunin exams. Team Guy will be properly introduced next chapter.**

 **In the original story, a lot of these characters were introduced after the 3 year time skip. Just rewind their age in the original story 3 years.**

 **Here are some of the character's ages right now in this story:**

 **Kurotsuchi- 15, Akatsuchi-16, Tamaki-13**

 **Samui-26, Omoi-13, Karui-14, Hano-13**

 **Am I the only one who didn't realize Samui was as old as she is?**

 **I decided to have a little fun with the third members of these teams. Tamaki will be an aspiring ninja in this story and Hano is an OC. We'll learn a little more on them as the story progresses.**

 **Also, Naruto and Ino… was that a date? Both said no…. but it sure seemed like a date.**

 **Cheers, and thanks for the support!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"All Jounin instructors will please remain outside of the gates. I'm sure you all understand, maintaining our security is the top most priority and that can't be maintained with so many Jounin ninja from different villages running around." Mui addressed the crowd. "While you are here, you are my guests, and I expect each of you to follow our rules."

"Jounin, whatever ill feelings or animosity you feel towards other villages that might be here today will have to be set aside. I don't care about past or current feuds. I don't care about your status within your village or whatever import family linage you might belong to. You will be under the supervision of my prison guards, and any Jounin that instigates a fight will be severely punished." Mui stated bluntly.

"Genin, you also will not engage in any combat with others unless I allow it as part of the exam. Even then, you will only do so within the parameters that I set. Anyone who thinks to bend or break the rules will fail the exam. Am I clear?" Most of the Genin nodded their head toward the proctor. "Good, now Genin will please follow me." Mui turned around with hands behind his back and walked inside the castle gates.

"This prison holds the worst of the worst." Mui spoke as he led the crowd of Genin into the castle. "Although Kusagakure operates this facility, all villages use this prison. For that reason, this land that we are standing on has been granted immunity by all nations. War never reaches our doorsteps and we in turn are forbidden from lending aid in war, even to our home village."

"Ninja that are imprisoned here only have two fates: have their freedom requested by their village leader or death. Many prisoners have tried to escape. All have failed." Mui stopped and turned sharply to face the Genin as they arrived at a corridor with many doors lining the walls.

"Each team will be interacting with a prisoner today. Behind each door in this corridor is a small room with a prisoner tied to a chair. Each prisoner has been given a secret word, and your mission is to extract that word from the prisoner in less than 30 minutes. I have informed the prisoners that if they reveal their secret word to you then I shall be placing them in solitary confinement for two weeks. On the other hand, any prisoner who successfully resists your interrogation will be given a reward of a cup of Sake. That may not seem like much of a reward to you all, but you'd be surprised how far a man will go for a cup of Sake when he's only had dirty water to drink for years."

The Genin teams started to whisper back and forth, but were cut off when Mui raised his hand again. Once there was silence, Mui continued. "You may use whatever means necessary to extract the information, but there are some rules. Listen carefully."

"Rule number 1, Nobody can leave the interrogation room with PERMANENT damage. We still need some of these prisoners for one reason or another. I won't have you killing or permanently maiming any of them. Am I understood?" Mui questioned.

The Genin crowd nodded their heads in the affirmative.

"Good, now for the next step. Each team will be randomly assigned to a room. You will then pick two of your team members to go inside and wait. The remaining team member outside will be given an information packet on your prisoner and be instructed on the rest of the rules. Once your third team member enters the room, the thirty minute timer starts and you may begin the interrogation."

"Why can't we all hear the rest of the rules?" a random Genin shouted out.

"Because I said so. If you don't like it feel free to quit. There are many times you will have to rely on teammates to convey important information to you out in the field. In this case, you will have to rely on your teammate to adequately communicate the rest of the rules to you to avoid disqualification." Mui responded. "Now, the guards will show you to your assigned room, and each team will decide who will go in and who they will leave outside."

Naruto, who was standing with Sasuke and Sakura in the middle of the crowd, was surprised to feel a finger tap his shoulder. He turned around and found himself staring at a prison guard who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Team 7 of Konoha, you will come with me." The guard spoke with a gruff voice as he motioned for Team 7 to follow him. It was difficult to navigate the commotion of the crowd. All around guards were leading teams to different doorways. After a minute of pushing and shoving, Team 7 finally broke out of the mass of the crowd and were led towards a wooden door where the guard dropped them off.

"So I guess we need to decide who's going inside and who we're going to leave outside" Sakura spoke.

"I think it's obvious", Sasuke responded. "Me and the Dobe need to go inside and you need to stay out here."

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I was worried I might have to stay out here and try to memorize a bunch of rules!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Sakura has the best mind for that kind of thing." Sakura felt a blush coming on, but fought it, not wanting to be a Sasuke fan girl.

Naruto nodded in agreement and pushed the door open to their interrogation room. "Good luck Sakura!" he said before shutting the door behind him and Sasuke.

* * *

"I should be the one to stay outside. Man what a drag." Shikamaru muttered.

"Why do you say that?" Ino questioned.

"Because you need to be in there. You're going to be our best interrogator." He turned to Choji, "And you need to be Ino's muscle. I on the other hand, need to stay out here and figure out what these proctors are up to."

"What's there to figure out? They're going to just give you a packet and tell you the rest of the rules. Seems pretty straight forward to me." Choji responded.

Shikamaru nodded, "yeah but that's the problem. It's too straight forward. There's got to be a catch." Shikamaru shut his eyes and crouched down to think.

Ino watched as the other teams entered their rooms. "Ok I guess it's about time we-"

"Hold on a second, let me think." Shikamaru cut her off.

Ino watched as the other teams sent two of their team members inside. Soon enough, they were the only ones left in the corridor that hadn't sent anyone in. All the eyes of the Genin left outside and the prison guards were on them.

One of the guards approached. "Is there a problem Team 10 of Konoha?"

Ino waved her hand. "Nope! No problem, we were just about to go inside!" She leaned down to angrily whisper to Shikamaru. "Everyone is staring at us."

Shikamaru's eyes snapped open as he came to a realization. "That's it!" He stood up straight. "Ino, Choji, don't trust me when I come inside."

Ino was confused. "Why would we not-"

"That's enough!" one of the guards interrupted as he grabbed Shikamaru and slapped a hand over the Nara's mouth. "You two, go inside those doors now!"

Ino wanted to say something snappy back but relented when she felt Choji grab her arm. "Come on Ino, we don't want to get disqualified." He led her past the door and shut it behind them.

Once the guard was sure the door was shut, he let Shikamaru go. "You're too smart for your own good kid."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know."

* * *

Mui once again took charge. "You remaining Genin will now receive an information packet." Guards started going around and handing out manila envelopes. "Inside you will find a report on the prisoner you will be interrogating. In addition, you will find a report on the team you will be infiltrating."

This caught the group's attention. "What do you mean infiltrating?" shouted a random Genin.

"I mean that each of you will be going in a different team's door, impersonating the team member they left outside." Mui responded.

Almost immediately the Genin in the corridor started to murmur and talk to each other. Mui called for silence which got them all to shut up again.

"Which team you were assigned too was drawn at random. The guards will now lead each of you to your new assigned location." Mui instructed.

Sure enough, right after he said that Sakura heard a gruff voice behind her. "Come with me." She turned and found a guard motioning for her to follow. She followed the guard a few doorways down before they finally stopped. The guard turned and looked at her again. "Open your packet."

Sakura did as instructed ad opened her packet. Nervously, she pulled out four pieces of paper. One was the report on the prisoner, whereas the other three had pictures and brief biographies of the Genin team she was about to interact with. The guard stepped forward and pointed at the paper that had the full body image of a girl with dirty blonde hair. "This is the Genin you will be impersonating when you go inside that room." Sakura nodded and read the girl's name.

Temari.

* * *

Once everyone was relocated, Mui spoke up again. "Now then, each of you will be given ten minutes to read the information in the packet and come up with a strategy. Your purpose is to impede the interrogation efforts of the team you are infiltrating. I have no additional rules other than what I previously stated, that nobody in that room can leave with permanent damage."

"So we can just sneak attack the Genin inside?" One of the participants spoke up.

"Sure, but consider for a moment if that is a wise strategy." Mui responded. "I'm going to guess that most of you out here were selected because of your intelligence and you were the best candidate on your team to memorize and pass on information that you learned out here. I'm also going to guess that most of the teams here sent their best or strongest members inside to perform the integration."

"You could try to attack the other two Genin inside, but then your cover would immediately be blown for a fight that you'll probably lose. Maybe it would be best for you all to consider a more subtle approach and lie or mislead the Genin inside to slow them down until the timer runs out." Mui continued. "Someday, you all will likely participate in an infiltration mission. You will learn on those missions that your ability to deceive is much more important than your ability to fight."

"What if we can't prevent the team that we're infiltrating from getting the secret word? Do we fail the exams?" Asked another random Genin.

"No, whether you pass or fail will depend on if your actual teammates can successfully get the secret word or not." Mui replied. "By the way, your ten minute timer has started."

Quickly all the Genin in the corridor started examining the papers in their packets.

* * *

"What's taking her so long?" Naruto sounded annoyed. Him and Sasuke had been sitting on some chairs in a small room across from a prisoner who was gaged and tied to a chair, with a hood covering their face. "Can't we start beating the secret word out of this guy?" Naruto punched his fist.

Sasuke, who was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, shook his head. "They said our time would start when Sakura walks back in the room. For all we know they are waiting for us to start early so they can disqualify us."

"Argh, fine!" Naruto crossed his arms and tried to relax. Patience wasn't one of his strong points.

After a few minutes, both boys raised their heads as Sakura walked into the room. "Hey guys!" she said with a broad smile.

"Finally!" Naruto jumped to his feet relieved. "That took forever. What did the proctor tell you?"

Sakura scratched her chin. "Well… a lot of things. They gave us a long list of stuff we couldn't do. They are looking for any excuse to disqualify us."

Sasuke furrowed his brow. "ok… well did you learn anything about our prisoner?"

Sakura took a seat. "Let me see if I can remember… they sure did tell us a lot of stuff."

Naruto and Sasuke waited for their teammate to think. The situation started to grow awkward when seconds started turning into minutes of her not talking.

Sasuke finally broke the silence. "Sakura, can you remember anything or not? We're wasting time."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry guys! Sometimes I get stressed thinking of so many things at once. These exams just have me so stressed." She started tearing up. "I just feel like so much burden has been placed on me."

"Sakura, you're getting off track. Do you have any useful information on the prisoner?" Sasuke sounded irritated.

"Hey man, give her a break," Naruto scolded his teammate. "Just give her a second to think."

"We don't have time for this, we need to get started." Sasuke walked over to take the hood off the prisoner.

"Wait!" Sakura stood up. "I remembered something important about him. He's from Konoha."

Saskue raised an eyebrow. "Do you know him? Why is he a prisoner?"

"No I don't know him personally, but the report said it had something to do with theft." Sakura responded.

Sasuke waited, but she didn't say anything more. "Ok then." He reached for the hood.

"Wait!" Sakura shouted again.

"What now?!" Sasuke responded.

"You can only take his hood off with your feet." Sakura responded.

Both Naruto and Sasuke gave her an incredulous look. Sasuke was the first to respond. "Is this a joke?"

Sakura shook her head "It's not a joke. That fucking proctor gave us all sorts of stupid rules. That's why we were out there so long."

"Whatever" Sasuke impatiently turned to Naruto. "Dobe, I'll need your help to…" Sasuke's voice fell silent as he realized he was being ignored. Naruto was staring at Sakura with an emotionless expression. Sasuke barely caught it as Naruto quickly changed his demeanor.

Naruto put on a big cheesy smile and gave Sakura a thumbs up. "You got it Sakura, I trust you! By the way, if we succeed we're stilling going on that date tonight right?"

Sakura looked confused. "Date?"

Naruto laughed, "Yeah silly, we've been a couple for nearly a year now." Naruto walked up and put his arm around her from the side. "I thought we'd celebrate our year anniversary."

Sakura put on a big smile and leaned her head against his shoulder. "Oh! I had nearly forgotten. You're so romantic babe."

Naruto's smile vanished as he quickly drew a kunai and put it up to her neck. "Who are you?"

Sakura looked at the kunai in fear. "I'm Sakura! Please Naruto don't hurt me!"

"No, you're not. Me and Sakura have never been on a date." Naruto spat back. "What did you do with Sakura?"

Sasuke, who had now caught on to what was happening, walked up behind her and grabbed her hair shoving her forward closer to the kunai. "Talk now."

"Fine!" Naruto and Sasuke watched as 'Sakura' disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by girl wearing Amegakure headband. "You figured me out."

Naruto growled. "What did you do with Sakura?!" He yelled.

Whatever the girl was going to say, will remain a mystery. She let out a cry of pain as Sasuke yanked her by her hair, opened the door to the room, and shoved her outside. He slammed the door behind him. "We can't talk to her. She's already fooled us into wasting too much time. What tipped you off?"

"It's when she said 'fucking'. The real Sakura would never casually say that. You'd know that if you didn't spend so much time ignoring her." Naruto responded.

"Whatever." Sasuke walked up to the prisoner and yanked off the hood and gag.

Naruto's eyes went wide as he and the prisoner locked eyes. "No. Fucking. Way."

The prisoner started to laugh. "Hey Kyubi brat, happy to see your old sensei?"

* * *

Ino watched as Shikamaru opened the door and strolled in. Almost immediately Choji jumped him from behind and pinned him to the ground face first.

"What the Hell?! Get off me Choji", Shikamaru struggled underneath the Akimichi.

"Shut up and hold still", Ino kneeled down and put her hand on Shikamaru's head. "I'm going to read your mind".

"Ah crap", Shikamaru responded in a girly voice that definitely didn't sound right. Ino and Choji watched as the ninja dropped their henge, revealing a dark skinned girl with red hair wearing a Kumo headband. "How the hell did you figure me out so quickly?"

"We have a really smart teammate", Ino gloated, "Now, hold still." She placed her hand on the kunoichi's head and closed her eyes to focus.

Reading minds was an interesting experience. Every mind is different, so it required Ino to be versatile. Time passes a lot faster in the person's mindscape than in the real world. Heck, under the right conditions her father could navigate months or years' worth of memories in a matter of hours. Ino wasn't that skilled yet, but it was still child's play for her to analyze the past 15 minutes of someone's memory in a matter of seconds.

Ino opened her eyes and took her hand off the kunoichi's head. "Her name is Karui. The proctors sent her in here to slow us down. The only real rule is that we can't cause permanent damage."

"Dammit! That would be my luck, to get sent to the only ninja that can read freaking minds" Kauri huffed.

"So where's Shikamaru?" Choji asked.

"He's off trying to slow down a different team." Ino responded. "Now, keep holding her down. I'm going to go ahead and read this guy's mind." Ino thumbed over her shoulder to the prisoner.

A minute later, Ino and Choji walked out of the room with Karui in tow. They were the first to finish.

* * *

Shikamaru couldn't help but smile as he watched the two Kusa Genin try to sit quietly. He had walked into the room impersonating their teammate. Things were going well, so far he had wasted ten minutes of their time.

"Are you sure we have to wait for a bell to ring?" One of the Genin, a boy with black short hair asked him impatiently.

Shikamaru shrugged, "You can try to start if you want, but don't say I didn't warn you. We are disqualified if you remove that hood before a bell rings." Shikamaru had his henge up of their portly Kusa teammate. So far, it had been easy to stay in character. He just acted like Choji.

"Wait a second, according to the rule you were told, we could technically start interrogating the prisoner as long as we don't remove their hood, right?" the other Genin, a slender girl with long blue hair pulled back in a ponytail asked.

Shikamaru scratched his head. He'd have to roll with it. They'd figure him out if he tried to change the wording. "Yeah… good idea!" He tried responding as enthusiastically as he could.

"Great!" Both of the Kusa Genin stood up. "We'll just have to reach under and remove the gag without removing the hood. Should be easy enough." The girl bent over forward and started trying to take off the gag from under the prisoner's hood. The boy stood behind her observing.

Shikamaru observed the situation and an idea occurred to him. Being around Naruto in the academy had taught him a thing or two about irritating and, in general, distracting people for prolonged periods of time.

Shikamaru stood and slowly reached out with his shadow and connected it to the Kusa boy's shadow. Acting quickly, Shikamaru brought his hand back at about hip level, and whipped it forward open palmed. For Shikarmaru, he slapped nothing but open air. For the poor Kusa boy however, his hand did the same thing as Shikamaru's hand, the only difference being that it made contact with a surface.

That surface happened to be the rear end of the girl standing in front of him.

Shikamaru quickly withdrew his shadow as the girl spun around and slugged her teammate in the face. "YOU FREAKING PERV! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIFE!" Before the poor boy could respond, she was on top of him trying to claw his face off.

Shikamaru smiled and leaned back against the wall. It was always satisfying when a plan came together.

* * *

Neji glared at the prisoner tied up to the chair. This whole test was proving more frustrating than he had imagined. First, someone impersonating Tenten had come inside and tricked them into wasting some of their time. It wasn't until he activated his Byakugan that he had discovered the impersonator which they quickly dispatched.

Then there was the actual prisoner. Ever since he and Lee had removed the hood and gag, the prisoner had not said a word. He was a thin man, maybe in his late 40's with a shaved head and some sort of tribal tattoos running up his neck and over his scalp. The man's face had a permanent scowl, as if he hadn't smiled in years.

They tried the good cop/bad cop approach, but nothing was working. Lee had tried to be nice and had gone as far as to offer the man all their food rations if he would give up the secret word. Neji was quick to see that the man intended on ignoring Lee until the time ran out. That's when Neji decided it was time to take control of the situation as the bad cop.

He waved Lee out of the way and then proceeded to start hitting the man's painful pressure points. Neji was sure not to do any permanent damage, just cause as much pain as he could. It should have been extra effective with his knowledge of the body for his Taijutsu style, but the man didn't make a freaking sound. The man's face would scowl deeper with each precision strike, but he refused to cry out in pain.

"I'm actually impressed. Not many people could take strikes like that so…. quietly", Neji commented.

The man didn't make a word, just staring off at nothing in particular.

"Just tell us the secret word and I'll stop. I know each of these strikes must be extremely painful." Neji continued, his frustration with the situation starting to rise.

Again, the man said nothing.

"Neji, may I be so bold as to suggest that we offer him food AND money?" Lee stepped forward towards the prisoner. "How does that sound sir? You'll get all of our food rations and money we have in our pockets." Lee tried to sound as optimistic as he could.

"Lee, he has no use of money, he's in a high security prison." Neji shook his head. "We must be going about this all wrong, neither of our approaches are working." Neji looked at the prisoner. "Is there anything that would make you tell us the secret word? Maybe we could cut some sort of deal."

The prisoner actually chuckled at that one. "You have nothing I want kid. Do your worse. I've been in this Hell hole for 20 years. Pain is a slow Tuesday for me."

Neji shrugged. "I don't feel any sympathy for you. Your destiny was set the moment you decided to betray your village."

The man gave a half-hearted laugh. "Betrayed my village huh? The funny thing about 'betrayal' is it's all a matter of perspective. From my point of view, my village betrayed me."

"I'm pretty sure every criminal would say that" Neji said flatly. "Why were you sent here?" He figured it'd be better to keep the guy talking.

"I was sent to this prison because I disobeyed orders and killed my squad leader on a mission." The man responded.

Lee looked taken aback. "I do not see why you think you're the victim. Murdering a comrade is most despicable."

"Is that right?" the man retorted. "Well let me tell you about our A ranked mission. I was part of a squad that was set to dispose of the leadership of a criminal organization. We were ordered to kill every single one of them, the current big boss and the next ones in line. What wasn't told to us is that this particular organization was a family ran crime ring. Let me ask you something Bowl Cut, if something is family owned and the boss dies, who takes over?"

"The boss's children…" Lee did not like where this was going.

"Exactly. So we take out the big boss man and are going around the building wiping out every other adult that could be connected to that family. Once we're done, I come back to retrieve the boss man's body. When I walk in the room, I find the man's 6 year old boy crying over his daddy's body. Some brat kid that had never hurt anybody or done anything wrong."

"My squad leader walks in and busts out a kunai, saying that we need to take care of the kid. I tried to talk him out of it. I told him we should just leave and pretend we never saw the boy. He calls me a gutless pussy and decides he's going to off the boy anyways. You know what I did? I busted out a kunai of my own and stuck my squad leader in the back. The rest of the team was so busy taking me into custody that the boy got away. My village disowned me and sent me to this lovely establishment to live out my days until I die." The prisoner leaned back onto his chair. "So what do you two think? Am I a prick or is my village leader the asshole?"

Neither Genin responded, unsure of what to say. Neji was the first to speak. "I don't think we can judge one way or the other. Call me cynical, but I tend not to immediately trust the stories of prisoners."

"Maybe so, but someday you'll learn the point I'm trying to make. One day you'll learn that even your precious Konoha, like my village, makes immoral decisions which destroy the lives of a few for the sake of the many."

Neji visibly flinched at this. He knew all too well that Konoha would sacrifice one for the sake of the many… but he needed to get back to the task at hand.

"The seal on your chest, it prevents you from using chakra correct?"

The man nodded.

"And I assume you are familiar with the Hyuga clan and our ability to shut down Tenketsu?"

The man nodded again.

"Well we also have the ability to open them." Neji activated his Byakugan, visible veins forming around his eyes. "That seal is drawing chakra in throughout your chakra network. Hypothetically, if those pathways around the seal were to be shut off and the remaining Tenketsu opened wider, you'd be close to accessing your regular amount of chakra. Your chakra control would be out of synch and unbalanced, but that'd still be better than nothing."

The man narrowed his eyes. Now the conversation was going somewhere. "What are you proposing boy?"

Neji hesitated. "Assuming I believe your little sob story, I would see it as justice for you to make an escape and get away from this place."

Lee's eyes widened. "But Neji, you can't possibly be considering-"

Neji cut him off and continued. "Help us pass this test and I'll help you access some of your chakra. My method to bypass your seal is temporary, but it should at least give you a day to make your escape."

The man contemplated the proposal briefly. "No deal. You're just going to screw me over once I tell you the word."

Neji nodded. "Very well." Suddenly, Neji got into a stance and started to strike the man in various spots. Initially, Lee thought Neji had gone back to causing the man pain but soon realized that Neji was actually using Juken. After a few dozen strikes, Neji backed off away from the man in the chair.

The man's eyes were wide. "My chakra… I feel…. amazing!"

Neji nodded. "Like I said, the effects will wear off in about a day. You're going to want to make your escape tonight. Please don't kill any of the guards, they're just innocent bystanders."

"I don't understand… why would you help me?" the man sounded surprised.

"Because I believe your story." Neji scowled. "I'm not going to tell you my background, but let's just say it hits pretty close to home. Destiny brought us together today." Neji turned to Lee. "Come on Lee, we're leaving."

"But what about the exams?!" Lee exclaimed.

"We'll try again some other time." Neji made his way to the door. Lee agonized, but then caved in, following his rival.

As Neji's hand touched the doorknob, the prisoner spoke up.

"The word is 'Rice'. "

Lee jumped up in the air. "YES! Thank you kind sir! Now we will be able to proceed in the exams!"

Neji didn't smile but he was relieved. He turned and exchanged one last nod with the prisoner before walking out the door.

* * *

Naruto knew the universe was out to get him. It had to be. Of all the people, all the FREAKING people in the world, Naruto had been assigned to interrogate the man that probably hated him more than anyone.

Mizuki.

The silver haired former academy instructor gave the two Genin in front of him a huge grin. "Have you missed me brat? Oh I've missed you!" Mizuki's smile vanished as his demeanor darkened. "I think about you all the damn time."

Sasuke was a little puzzled. He knew who Mizuki was and had heard that he had betrayed the village. However, Sasuke had no idea why there was bad blood between their former instructor and Naruto.

Naruto scowled. "Hmm the feeling is not mutual. I hardly think about you at all. Why did they send you here anyways? I thought this prison was for dangerous prisoners not ones who get beat up by an academy student."

"Who here got beat up by an academy student?" Mizuki mockingly looked around. "Oh, you're referring to me? Well then, let me set the record straight. I wasn't beat up by an academy student." He leaned forward and spoke low. "I was beaten by a little demon."

Naruto flinched at those words.

Mizuki continued, "I've always been curious to know, have you actually met it? Word on the street is that most Jinchuriki can actually talk to their demons. I wonder what a conversation with the Kyubi would be like. I think you two would get along real-"

CRACK

Mizuki's head twisted to the side as Sasuke's fist came into contact with his cheek.

"You talk too much" Sasuke straightened up bringing his fist back. "Tell us the word, or there's going to be more of that."

Mizuki turned forward and spit blood in Naruto's direction. "Do what you want. I would rather die than help the 9 tailed Fox boy over there."

Sasuke glared and backhanded Mizuki. "His name is Naruto."

Mizuki grimaced from the stinging sensation on his cheek. Unexpectedly, he started to chuckle. "My, my Sasuke. Here I thought you were going to be the best ninja out of that academy. I guess I was wrong. You're a dumbass if you think your teammate over there is an actual person. One day, the fox will break out and rampage again. If you were smart you would put as much distance between yourself and the demon over there." Mizuki locked eyes with Sasuke. "Although, maybe keeping Naruto around is to your benefit. I bet the Kyubi could kill Itachi for you, since you'll never be strong enough to do it yourself-"

Sasuke reached into his pouch and withdrew a kunai. He shot his hand forward, intent on ending the life in front of him. Just before the kunai could come across Mizuki's neck, Naruto tackled Sasuke from the side. They landed with a grunt as Naruto tried his best to hold the Uchiha down.

"Get off me Dobe!" Sasuke shouted, trying to push Naruto off of him.

"Calm down first!" Naruto barked back, wrestling control of Sasuke's hands. "Don't you see that you'd be giving him what he wants? If you kill him, we fail the exam and he won't have to live out the rest of his life in prison."

Sasuke stopped struggling but flashed his Sharingan for a brief moment. "Get off me Naruto".

"Ok, but if you try to do anything stupid I'm going to have to kick your ass" Naruto let go of Sasuke's hands and slowly stood up. "You really need some thicker skin. You can't freak out every time someone mentions your brother's name."

Sasuke glared at Naruto as he got to his feet. "You just don't get it…"

"Don't get what?!" Naruto's voice rose. "I've had people hating me my whole life saying all sorts of crap. You think Mizuki is the first one to call me a demon or a monster to my face? Far from it, but you don't see me flying off the handle every time someone says something I don't like. Grow up Sasuke. Every time you do something stupid because of Itachi, you give him another victory."

Sasuke looked off to the side and didn't say anything. As much as he didn't like to admit it, Naruto was right. He took a deep breath and uttered one of the most painful words he had ever said to Naruto, "sorry".

"What was that?" Naruto grinned back.

"Fuck off."

"I'll take it!" Naruto turned towards Mizuki, "now you're going to give us the secret word."

Mizuki frowned, disappointed. He had hoped to see the two Genin tear each other apart. "And why would I do that?"

"Because", Naruto got up close so his face was inches away from Mizuki's. "If you don't, we'll fail the exam. That will give us a chance to get better for the next go around."

Mizuki arched an eyebrow.

"Think about it. I keep hearing how these exams are dangerous. If you pass us, there's a pretty good chance that a newbie like me won't be prepared for the rest of the exam. I could get seriously hurt or even die!" Naruto continued.

"If only I were so lucky", Mizuki interjected.

"If only", Naruto gave him a confident grin. "However, failing us will just ensure we have plenty of time to get more training and experience under our belts before we take the exams again. The exams would be far less dangerous for us then."

Mizuki gave Naruto a deep scowl, which made Naruto grin wider. He had him. "So what's it going to be Mizuki-'sensei'?" Naruto laid on the sarcasm for Mizuki's former title.

Mizuki sat silent. As much as he LOATHED the brat, he couldn't deny Naruto's logic. The best chance for him to hear of Naruto's demise would be to give them the secret word. Oh well, at least he'd get some stuff off his chest first. With Naruto leaning so close, Mizuki spat in his face causing the boy to fall backwards. While Naruto tried to rub the spit off his face with his arm sleeve, Mizuki took the opportunity to say everything on his mind.

"Well played fox boy! My best bet for you dying is to let you pass. First, however, I'm going to give you a reality check that's long overdue."

Sasuke started to step forward to intervene, but stopped when Naruto put up his hand.

Mizuki continued, "First off, someone like you can NEVER be Hokage. A little orphan grows up and, against all odds, becomes the most influential ninja in Konoha? Give me a break. Life isn't a fairy tale. The only reason anyone knows your name is because of the Kyubi. If you didn't have the fox, you would have remained a nobody. Like it or not, that demon is the only important thing about you."

Naruto's eye twitched but he stood resolute.

"But let's say you do become the Hokage. What then? You think everyone will just magically love and adore you? That they'll just forget that you're one temper tantrum away from releasing one of the most destructive entities in existence? Face it Naruto, no matter what you accomplish, no matter what grandioso title you hold, you will NEVER be able to escape the Kyubi's shadow."

Although he didn't show it, Naruto's heart was wrenching. It was hard to hear every single one of your insecurities laid out in front of you so bluntly.

"My only hope", Mizuki started to lower his voice, "is that the universe decides to show the rest of us mercy by having you die during the next part of the exams. The secret word is 'Dango', now get the hell out of my sight."

Sasuke wasn't happy at all. Naruto's face was resolute but Sasuke could tell that Mizuki's words had affected him more than he was showing. "We still have a few minutes before we have to report outside. We could make those minutes VERY uncomfortable for him if you want Dobe."

Naruto shook his head. "The mission's done. Anything else we do would be for personal reasons." Naruto locked eyes with Mizuki. "You're wrong anyways. You say I'm a demon, and yet you're the one that lets your life be controlled by hatred and resentment. You can keep holding onto that hate, it makes no difference to me. I'll be Hokage one day and have the acceptance of the village. I hope you live long enough in here to see that."

Naruto turned and walked to the door without another word.

* * *

Sakura walked into the room looking like the "princess" of Suna. Apparently 'Temari' and her siblings were all teammates together. It was going to be much more difficult fooling siblings that were raised together.

Walking inside, she got her first look at her two 'brothers'. The older of the two, Kankuro, was sitting on the ground with some… strange… thing all wrapped up with hair poking out strapped to his back. He stood with an audible groan as he stretched his arms. "Man was that proctor being long winded or something? What took you so long?"

"Eh it was mostly nonsense." Sakura decided it was best to keep her sentences short and to the point.

Sakura turned and spotted the younger brother, Gaara, was staring at her from the corner of the room. She half wondered if he had already figured her out. His eyes were dark and cold. It was definitely not the way a sibling would usually look at another sibling. She flinched as he stepped forward and spoke.

"Well? What are the other rules?" His voice was low and menacing.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. She didn't know why but his voice made her feel…. Uncomfortable. It was puzzling. After all, he was the smallest in the room. How dangerous could he really be?

"Nothing much, he just repeated that no one leaving the room can have permanent damage. He did clarify one point though, the prisoner will have a secret word for each of us, not just the team." She lied.

"So… we'll actually have to get a total of three words out of the prisoner, not just one?" Kankuro questioned. "That's not really a big change. Why would they not tell us all that?"

Sakura nodded and shrugged. "I think the whole point of keeping me out there was so that you two would have to trust me. Naturally, the proctors are trying to get you two to doubt me. I think that's why they kept me out there so long and only clarified a little change, so you two wouldn't be confident that I was paying attention and passing on the right info."

Kankuro nodded and accepted the explanation. Gaara on the other hand, continued staring at her, his expression unchanged. For a moment she again thought he had figured her out and wasn't buying her story. She breathed a sigh of relief when he finally looked away and walked towards the prisoner.

Sakura watched as Gaara, without a word of command or hand sign, summoned sand out of his gourd and shaped it in the air. The sand levitated as it drifted over to the prisoner's hood, gripped it, and took it off.

The prisoner was a long haired, pale man in his thirties. His brown hair was long, dirty and wild. His eyes were wide as he grinned at the youth from behind his gag. He coughed as Gaara reached out with the sand and jerked off the gag roughly.

"Man, the service around here sucks." The man turned his head and looked at Sakura with a grin. "But the plus side is that Suna sure does put out some good looking Kunoichi! Why don't you come on over here and give me a smooch", the man made kissing noises with his lips.

Sakura fought the urge to puke.

"Tell us the secret word." Gaara spoke up in his monotone voice.

"Oh come on there carrot top, why are you just skipping to business? Don't you want to have some fun? You know, women are usually more of my thing but I've been in here so long that for you I can make an exception-"

The man was cut off as Gaara lashed out with a tendril of sand and slammed the prisoner against the wall. Sakura was shocked at how quick it had happened… and she still hadn't seen him use a hand sign!

"Agh, you are a…. feisty one carrot top…", the man forced a smile even though the sand was pinning him hard against the wall. "I like feisty. The struggle gets me hard!"

Gaara's expression hadn't changed at all throughout the verbal exchange. All he did was move his hand and sand started to slowly encase the man.

"Gaara" Kankuro spoke carefully, "Remember we can't cause permanent damage. If you kill him, we fail."

"Shut up," Gaara replied. He did however lower his hand so that the sand stopped encasing the prisoner.

"Aww just when I thought things were about to get good", the prisoner laughed.

"Don't you ever shut up?! He's going to kill you if you keep talking." Kankuro spat back.

"OOO tempt me tempt me. I like living on the edge. Come on carrot top, are you going to do something or just leave me with blue balls?" The man motioned towards Sakura with his head. "I'll give you the secret word if your teammate over there sits on my face."

Sakura glared at the man. "You're such a creep you know that?"

"I am what I am sweetheart."

"Enough talk." Gaara cut in. "You're wasting my time."

"Enough talk? Oh you cute little boy I can talk all day, get used to sounds coming out of this mouth."

Sakura shuttered as she watched a small, faint smile appear on Gaara's face as he raised his hand again.

"The only words coming out of your mouth will be your screams."

At first it seemed like nothing was happening. It took a moment for Sakura to notice very small trails of sand snaking down the man's forehead. The sand descended until it reached the man's upper eyelids, at which point it turned inward and started going up under the eyelid behind the man's eyes.

Sakura cringed as the man let out a high pitched scream.

"AHHHHH WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! YOU CAN'T CAUSE ME PERMANENT DAMAGE REMEMBER?!"

"This won't cause you permanent damage… at least now anyways. I'm going to leave this sand behind your eyeballs. You can count on feeling it for the rest of your life." Gaara spoke as sand started to climb up the man's cheeks and twist around into his lower eyelids.

"NO! PLEASE STOP! THE SECRET WORD IS RADISH, THE FUCKING WORD IS RADISH! AHHHH PLEASE TAKE THE SAND OUT!" The prisoner screeched as the sand flowed behind his eyes. His eyes bulged out slightly as the sand filled up space in his eye socket.

"What are the other two words?" Gaara questioned.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! I WAS ONLY TOLD ONE WORD! THAT BITCH WAS LYING!"

Sakura felt her heart pumping fast as the two brothers turned towards her. She had counted on the prisoner lasting a little longer than that!

Kankuro narrowed his eyes. "What's he talking about Temari?"

"Well it's obvious he's lying." She replied.

"Is he though? I'm pretty sure this guy isn't holding any secrets back from Gaara right now."

"I don't know what to tell you. I passed on what the proctor told me outside."

"Then you must have got it wrong." Gaara replied. "Kankuro, go tell the guard outside the secret word and see if he'll pass us. If he doesn't, well…" Gaara turned to the squirming prisoner, "I'm going to make things much more uncomfortable for you."

Sakura started to panic as she saw Kankuro turn towards the doorway. She needed to hold them in this room! Acting quickly, she reached into her pouch and threw down a smoke bomb.

The room was filled with smoke for a few minutes before the air cleared enough for her to see the two brothers, both of which looked very unhappy.

"So… I'm going to assume you're not really Temari," Kankuro spoke up. "What exactly was the point of that smoke bomb?"

"Well you see, that wasn't a normal smoke bomb. It's one I created", Sakura smiled as she withdrew a little white pill and ate it. "Tell me, are you feeling a little dizzy?"

Kankuro's eyes went wide as the room around him began to spin. "You poisoned us?!"

"Not necessarily. It's an anesthetic that has now been aerosolized. The little white pill I took deactivated its effects in my body. Now I should be saying goodnight, because you two are about to go to sleep."

Sure enough, both brothers began to waiver. Kankuro fell forward on his face passed out, while Gaara came down to one knee breathing heavily.

"I'm… going to… kill you" Gaara spoke between breaths as his eyelids started to droop. "I can't… go to sleep… if I do… IT will come out…"

"It?" Sakura spoke. It was a little unsettling that Gaara hadn't passed out yet. She had given him a concentration of anesthetic that would put a large adult male to sleep. Someone with a small body like his should have been even more effected by it!

She brought out a kunai and held the handle side down. Maybe she could knock him out for the rest of the time. She dropped her henge and rushed forward towards his kneeling form. She brought the kunai high above her head and brought it down quickly, intending on hitting the top of his head with the handle side of the kunai. What she hadn't expected though, was hitting a chunk of sand that had come up to block her. She tried to pull her hand back, but the sand gripped her hand tight. She felt her stomach drop as the sand quickly raised her off the ground and threw her against the wall with a loud 'THUD'.

Sakura felt all the air leave her lungs on impact. She struggled to take a deep breath to replenish her lungs with precious oxygen. That had definitely knocked the wind out of her. She opened her eyes in shock as Gaara slowly came up shakily to his feet. To make matters worse, Kankuro opened his eyes, and also started to move, coming up onto his hands and knees. They both should have been out cold!

Kankuro flashed her a weary smile. "Surprised? I've conditioned my body against many different poisons. As a result, foreign chemicals have a smaller impact on my body compared to other ninja." Kankuro came up to one knee. "And Gaara here… well let's just say he used to fighting against sleep." Kankuro was fully standing now, his wrapped object he was holding was now out to his side. It appeared as if he was getting ready to use it. "Now then Konoha, are you going to try to stop us again?"

Sakura sighed. "No."

"Good, now go ahead and step outside and we'll follow you. Call me crazy, but I don't want you walking behind us."

Sakura stood and walked to the door in defeat. She had failed to stop them. She grabbed the door handle and started to open it, but was surprised when she felt it hit something and stop. She looked down and saw sand had gathered at the bottom of the door which was preventing it from opening. She looked at Gaara, who had his arms crossed.

"No" he spoke darkly. "You don't get to leave yet."

Kankuro gave his brother a worrisome look. "Maybe we should just let her go Gaara. It's not worth getting disqualified because of some dumb Konoha-"

"If you try to order me around again I'll kill you."

Kankuro immediately shut up and backed a few steps away from his younger brother.

Sakura took a step back in fright. "What are you doing? You won, I give up."

"I don't care. You pissed me off. I'm going to hurt you now. Then later on in the exams, I'm going to kill you."

Sakura turned pale. "W-Why? What could you possible gain from that! You don't even know me! I'm not that strong, I'm not a threat to you!"

"I need to kill you because… mother is hungry… killing others… gives me purpose."

Suddenly, the room around them came to life again as the sand moved and slammed Sakura against the wall, pinning her there. She struggled to move her arms but it was futile. "Y-Y-You can't hurt me remember?! Y-Y-You'll get d-d-disqualified." She was scared.

"I can't cause permanent damage." Gaara corrected in a low voice as he approached her. "Good thing hair and nails grow back."

Sakura screamed as she felt sand go under her thumbnail and rip it off.

* * *

 _Extra:_

 _Outside the castle_

Kakashi face palmed as he, Asuma, and Kurenai looked away in embarrassment. Guy had discovered a new way to stretch out and insisted on showing them. The stretch was him standing on his hands and splitting his legs horizontally. An upside down split in a skin tight green outfit truly created a horror scene for the Leaf Jounin.

"We get it Guy, you get a real good stretch. Will you please just stand up like a normal person? People are staring", Kurenai pleaded looking around at the other village ninja.

"But I haven't finished explaining it! You see, you get an extra good leg stretch because the gravity is working for you not against you", Guy responded in his booming voice. "Why don't you try it Kakashi?"

"I'm good Guy, but I think Asuma is interested", replied Kakashi as he gave Asuma a gentle shove from behind. "Look, he's even coming forward to get a better look."

Asuma turned and glared at the Copy-nin. "Guy, stop making a fool of yourself and stand up straight."

Guy put his legs together and flipped up onto his feet. "Aww that felt great! Now I think I'm warmed up and ready to go. Kakashi, how about a challenge eh? We haven't sparred in a while, let's see whose been training harder."

Kakashi didn't respond as he reached into his pocket and brought out an orange book to everyone's dismay.

"Kakashi, put that away! That's even more embarrassing than Guy's disturbing stretch!" Kurenai spat.

"Yeah Kakashi, that filth only serves to distract the youthful mind!" Guy boomed.

Kakashi sighed in defeat and reluctantly put the book away. He'd have to find a different way to entertain himself. "Ok Guy, I'll compete in a challenge with you, but I get to pick what we do. Deal?"

Guy fist pumped in celebration. "Yeah! That's the youthful spirit Kakashi! I'm glad I'm finally rubbing off on you. So what will it be? A foot race? A spar? Perhaps a test of strength?"

Kakashi thought about it for a moment before looking around at the ninja from the other villages. "The one who can get a date with a Kunoichi from a different village wins a point."

All of Guy's excitement disappeared as his jaw hung open. "What? That's not a proper challenge. We're not supposed to talk to them anyways."

Asuma jumped in, "No, we were instructed not to fight with them. The prison guards won't care if you just talk to them."

"Don't press it Asuma", Kakashi commented with a smile behind his mask. "Guy is right; we probably shouldn't be talking to them. Besides…" Kakashi gave Guy a sideways glance. "We're a little too… OLD… for that sort of challenge, wouldn't you agree Guy?"

The vigor returned to Guy's eyes. "Old? The Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha doesn't know the meaning of the word OLD! I accept your challenge Kakashi."

Kurenai shook her head as she watched Guy walk right into Kakashi's trap. "Kakashi… be nice."

Kakashi put his hands up defensively. "What? It's just a friendly challenge between two friends." He turned back to Guy. "Ok, well I have already picked out the woman I want you to try to get a date from." He pointed at a group of Kumo ninja. "The Blonde over there with the big-"

"Kakashi!" Kurenai cut in. "You're going to start a war with Kumo! Also, of course you'd pick her." She glanced sideways and noticed Asuma was staring a little too intently at the Kumo ninja now. He received a swift elbow to the ribs.

Kakashi put his hand on Guy's shoulder encouragingly trying to act sincere. "Guy, this will be the biggest challenge of your life. All your training, all your hard work and effort has led to this moment. You need to give it your all. If you succeed, you win."

Guy looked at him confused. "What do you mean I win?"

"Our little game we've been playing for years, building up points against one another. I'll declare you the ultimate winner and our rivalry will be settled."

Guy had a wide look come to his eyes. "HA HA Kakashi! You just made the biggest mistake of your life! I'm going to get a date with that Kunoichi if it's the last thing I do!"

Kakashi gave him an eye smile. "Go show her the power of youth."

With that, Guy started to boldly stroll towards the group of Kumo ninja.

Asuma started to laugh as Kurenai shook her head. "Why do I have a feeling that you just started the Fourth Ninja War?" She turned to see Kakashi raise his forehead protector and open his Sharingan eye. "Why are you bringing out the fancy eye? Seems kind of reckless don't you think? "

"I need the Sharingan for this one. I don't want to ever forget what is about to happen."

* * *

Samui was talking with one of her fellow Jounin when she felt a 'presence' behind her. She turned to see a man with the bushiest eyebrows she had ever seen wearing the greenest outfit she had ever seen. She didn't know if she was under a Genjutsu or not, but the sun seemed to glow brightly around him as he struck a pose, putting a thumb up and flashing her an epic grin. The strange man began to talk.

"Hello fair maiden! My name is Might Guy, also known as the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha! Don't let that scare you though, I'm also the best of gentlemen. I wanted to ask you out on a date. What do you say? Are you in or are you in?" He pronounced boldly.

A moment or two passed in silence before the entire group of Kumo ninja, besides Samui, started to roar in laughter. Some fell to the ground clutching their sides from laughing so hard.

A sweat drop formed on Guy's temple as Samui glared at him. "Is this some stupid joke?"

"No… I uh… I am quite serious. I'll take you out to wherever you want to eat or any activity you want to do. If you play your cards right, I might just let you in on one of my vigorous training sessions." Guy continued on, trying to maintain his smile and composure.

Another round of laughter erupted from the Kumo ninja. "Yeah Samui, why don't you go out for a 'vigorous training session'?"

Samui was dumbfounded. For the most part she was a serious person and wasn't use to situations like these. Time to shut this situation down. "Your name was Guy right?"

"Yes Mam! Might Guy, the Beautiful Beast of-"

"Right, listen Guy I want to make something clear to you", Samui cut him off and pointed to the prison. "You go pick the nastiest, vilest, most dangerous, and most disgusting prisoner in there and I'd date them before I'd go on a date with you. It's not just the fact you're from a hostile village either. If you were a Kumo ninja and the Raikage himself ordered me to go on a date with you I would leave the village and become a Missing-nin "

The laughter stopped and the silence was thick in the air. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of Guy's confidence shattering. Finally, one of the Kumo ninja spoke up, "Daaaaamn Samui, that's cold."

Guy's shoulders seemed to slump as his face become overcast and he became theatrical. "Noooo! This was my chance to finally win my rivalry with Kakashi!"

Samui crossed her arms. "Oh, so you came and talked to me because of some bet?" She did not sound pleased.

Now Guy looked scared. "No! I mean yes, but it's not what it seems-"

"I disagree, I think the picture looks pretty clear. You guys had a bet to see if you could score a date with a foreign Kunoichi. How typical. You're no gentleman at all." She mocked.

Guy clutched his heart as he felt her words pierce his soul. "You're right, I haven't behaved like a gentleman. As punishment, I will do 500 pushups, 500 squats, and run 50 laps!" His energy climbed as he talked. "I won't back down from this challenge! I will earn your affection and get you to go out on a date with me!"

Samui rolled her eyes. This guy was weirder than Killer Bee. "Whatever. By the way, if you're trying to impress a girl, don't wear a skin tight outfit that shows how small your… assets are. I'm surprised they don't call you the acorn of Konoha."

At this point the other village Jounin from Iwa, Suna, and all the other instructors were eagerly paying attention to this conversation. At once, every Jounin from every village started to laugh at Guy's misfortune. If there was ever a moment of peace and mutual understanding between villages in the ninja world, it was that moment.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Well there's a long chapter for you! I wanted to get the first challenge mostly out of the way. I'm really looking forward to the second and third challenges.**

 **Kind of a dark chapter… hopefully I lightened the mood enough towards the end.**

 **Also, don't worry about me hating on Sakura. I do like her. She's still coming into her own. Even with the bit of extra training, she would have never been a match for Gaara at this point.**

 **Peace out!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Naruto looked around eagerly for Sakura as he and Sasuke waited in the hallway. Most of the hallway doors were still shut, meaning that most of the teams were still interrogating their prisoners. A few more minutes, and all those inside their rooms would be failing the first exam. It was probably a good thing he hadn't spotted Sakura yet, it meant that the team she was infiltrating still hadn't come out with the secret word.

Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as he heard a feminine voice behind him. He turned to see a yawning Ino leaning against the wall.

"What took you so long Blondie? I've been out here so long that I could have taken a nap."

"Ino you won't believe it, we had to interrogate Mizuki."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Mizuki? As in our old academy instructor? I had no idea they put him in here."

"Yeah! What are the chances? That guy freaking hates me."

"Why?"

"I might have beat him up with a small army of clones after he tricked me into stealing a forbidden scroll."

Ino just blinked for a few seconds without saying anything. "… so you beat up a Chunin as an academy student?"

"Yep!"

Ino started to laugh. "As if I'd believe that! Come on Naruto you can barely take me on."

Naruto gave her a scowl. "First off, it did happen. Second, didn't I beat you the other day in a few seconds?"

"Yeah, yeah, you just wait, soon enough we're going to have our tiebreaker match." Ino smiled back. "By the way, congratulations on passing the exam. I'm happy for you."

Naruto's scowl disappeared. "Thanks Ino! How long have you been out here?"

"We were the first ones to finish. I don't think we were in our room for more than a few minutes."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "Wow, I uh… good job. I didn't think that…" Naruto stopped short when her eyes started to glare at him.

"Didn't think what?" Ino questioned.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief when another door opened and he could avoid answering the question. Everyone in the hall turned and watched as a redheaded boy from Suna walked out with his larger teammate behind. The boy walked up to a prison guard and muttered "Radish". The guard nodded his head and told the boy that they passed the first test. He didn't know why, but Naruto felt uneasy as he watched the boy sulk off towards the end of the hallway. Something about his presence felt… bad.

Naruto turned his head when he heard a third person step out of the room. The image that he saw in that moment would be burned in his mind for the rest of his life.

A girl with a bald bloody scalp and fingers stepped out into the hallway. She stumbled and dropped to her knees as she held her hands close to her chest while she sobbed openly. Her eyes were red and puffed out from crying.

Naruto stopped breathing when he realized that this girl was Sakura.

Immediately he pushed his way through the crowd towards her, not caring who he knocked over in the process. Right as he reached her, a blue blur slid forward to her side as Sasuke kneeled down beside her.

Naruto fell to her other side. He didn't know what to do, and although he was sure his mouth was saying stuff, he was shocked enough that whatever he was saying was unintelligible. Finally, he put an arm around her shoulder and took one of her hands. Upon closer examination, he saw that her fingertips looked swollen, bloody, and raw. He felt his anger start to rise when he realized she was missing her fingernails.

"Sakura." Sasuke's voice cut through the commotion like a knife. "Which of those two Suna guys did this to you?" Silence hung in the air except for Sakura's sobbing.

She shook her head as tears and blood fell to the floor.

"It was me."

Naruto and Sasuke looked up and saw the redhead that had walked out of the room earlier gazing at them from down the hall with his arms folded.

Sasuke eyed him darkly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Gaara. Your teammate got in my way. When I find her during the next part of the exams, I'm going to kill her."

Naruto stood, fists shaking as he felt his anger starting to peak. "I'm going to-"

"Naruto!" Sakura cut him off as she tried to put herself between him and Gaara. "Don't! He'll kill you!" He'll kill you!" She screamed at him.

It didn't matter to Naruto. He stepped around her as she continued screaming at him. He felt his nails sharpen against the palms of his hands. " **Gaara, I'm going to rip your arms off."**

Most of the Genin in the hallway flinched at Naruto's voice and presence. The only one that remained unfazed by the Uzumaki's killer intent was Gaara. He was intrigued at the blond. He was different… Slowly, sand started to empty out of his gourd and swirl around his body, his anticipation and excitement rising.

"You care for the girl? You shouldn't. Your attachment is weakness."

Naruto was about to rush forward when Sasuke stood up next to him. Naruto nearly snarled. " **You better not try stopping me**."

"Stop you?" Sasuke turned so that Naruto could see his Sharingan blazing. "No. The opposite actually." At once the Uchiha and Uzumaki started walking down the hallway towards the swirling mass of sand.

"NOOO!" Screeched Sakura. "HE'LL KILL YOU BOTH!" Both of her teammates ignored her.

Gaara stretched out his hands and summoned all the sand in his gourd, creating a swirling mini sandstorm around him in the hallway, forcing the surrounding Genin to back away. The path between him and the would be challengers was clear. He glared at the approaching opponents.

"You both want revenge for the girl? Good. Come! Mother is hungry for your **Blood**!"

Naruto and Sasuke rushed forward. Right as they were about to touch the edge of the sand, a body appeared in front of them and tossed them both backwards. Both tumbled back several feet before stopping. Looking up, they saw Mui the exam proctor frowning at them.

"You will not fight here." Several guards came to Mui's sides, forming a human wall. "I don't care what you do when you get off this island, but my rules still stand."

Naruto was shaking with anger, his whisker marks showing more than usual. " **Rules?! That Bastard mutilated our teammate! What are you going to do about that?!** "

"Gaara did not break any of my rules. You may not like it, but your teammate will eventually heal from her injuries." Mui responded.

Naruto was about to shout something else when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned quickly and found himself face to face with Ino.

"Instead of standing here and picking a fight with the proctor, how about you go back and help Sakura." She turned towards Sasuke. "You too Sasuke. The worst thing you guys could do right now is get yourselves in trouble while she needs your help."

Naruto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Ino was right. He felt himself slowly return to normal. "You're right Ino." He turned to the Uchiha. "Come on Sasuke, we'll deal with him later."

Sasuke had a little harder time letting things go. He glared at Gaara for a while past the guards. "Before this exam is over, I'm going to make you bleed."

Gaara stared the Uchiha down as he gathered the sand back into his gourd and crossed his arms. "I look forward to you trying."

With that, Naruto and Sasuke turned around and made their way back to Sakura. With her already was Ino and … some other Konoha Genin they had never met before. An older grey haired boy with glasses was waving his hands over Sakura's fingers, soft light green chakra glowing around his palms. He looked up as the boys approached.

"Hi there, I couldn't help but notice that your teammate needed a little help. I hope you don't mind, medical Ninjutsu happens to be my specialty. "

Naruto looked down and saw that Sakura's fingers were no longer bleeding and weren't as swollen as before. "Thank you for helping her. She's going to be ok, right?"

"Right she'll be fine. I can't make her fingernails and hair regrow, but those things should fill in over time." The boy offered an encouraging smile.

"What did you say your name was?" Sasuke chimed into the conversation.

"Oh my, I didn't introduce myself. My name is Kabuto." He started to wave his hands over Sakura scalp. Some of the open sores started to fill in with fresh skin. "And you're Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki correct?"

Sasuke nodded. "Why are you helping us?"

"Konoha ninja have to look out for each other right?"

Sasuke crossed his arms. "I don't buy that."

Naruto glared at his teammate. "Sasuke, he's helping Sakura. Don't be such a Dick."

Kabuto chuckled. "Don't worry Naruto, it's quite alright. Sasuke has the right attitude, you shouldn't be trusting anyone not even fellow Leaf-nin." Kabuto glanced at Sasuke. "Maybe just call this a friendly gesture. I'm helping you now, and maybe you all can return the favor later on?"

Sasuke hesitated but ended up responding with a short nod.

"Very good." Kabuto stood up and helped Sakura to her feet. "That's probably as much as I can do for now. The majority of the swelling and bleeding should be stopped now. Sorry I couldn't help grow your hair and nails back."

Sakura nodded as she sniffled. "Thanks… it feels a lot better…"

Kabuto smiled and nodded. "Well I better get back with my team. Nice meeting you all!" Kabuto waved and walked off.

"I…. I think I'm going to go back to the boat." Sakura whispered out.

"You shouldn't go alone; I'll go back with you." Ino put her arm around Sakura.

"No… I'll be ok… you should wait for Shikamaru to come out…"

"That Lazyass will be fine without me. Choji will fill him in on the details." Ino responded.

"Thanks Ino…" Sakura and Ino turned around and started walking towards the exit. Naruto and Sasuke started to follow when Sakura suddenly stopped and turned on them.

"Where do you two think you're going?" She asked aggressively to the boys.

Taken a little off guard, Naruto responded. "Uhhhh we're walking you back to the boat? We want to make sure you're ok and safe-"

Sakura shook her head to cut him off. "No. I don't want help from either of you. I needed you a few minutes ago but both of you left me alone and decided that you'd go pick a fight with Gaara DESPITE me yelling and pleading with you both not to. Instead, some stranger came and helped me while my two teammates were off picking a useless fight!"

Both boys flinched at that. Sasuke remained silent and Naruto scratched the back of his head as he replied. "I'm... I'm sorry Sakura. We just wanted to punish Gaara for what he did-"

"PUNISH HIM?!" Sakura started to yell again drawing the attention of the other Genin. "Did either of you hear what I was saying?! If the proctor hadn't stopped you, Gaara would have killed you both! KILLED YOU BOTH! What if you both had needlessly died because… because of me!"

Sasuke put his hands into his pockets and looked off to the side. "I doubt Gaara could-"

"Doubt Gaara could what?!" Sakura cut him off. "Doubt Gaara could beat you? Doubt Gaara could kill the great Sasuke Uchiha? You weren't in that room Sasuke! I know how strong you two are and believe me, as it stands right now, neither of you would have a chance against Gaara!"

Naruto didn't agree that he wouldn't stand a chance against Gaara, but he did feel terrible for leaving Sakura. "Sakura… I'm sorry we-"

"Sorry? No you don't get to say that! Fuck you Naruto Uzumaki!" She turned to Sasuke. "And Fuck you Sasuke Uchiha!" Sakura yelled breathing hard, tears starting to form again around the corners of her eyes.

"Sakura…" Ino interjected softly. "Maybe we should head to the boat and rest for a while." Ino glanced sadly at the two boys. "Maybe you two should just stick around here for now. Don't worry, I'll make sure she's ok."

"But-" Naruto started to say.

"Naruto", Ino quickly stopped him. "I got this. Don't worry." With that Ino gently guided Sakura towards the exit.

Despite what Ino said, Naruto started to take a step forward to follow. He stopped when Sasuke reached out and grabbed his shoulder shaking his head.

"Leave her be. Kakashi will take care of her. "

Naruto looked on sadly as the two girls disappeared around the corner. "Sasuke… we screwed up didn't we?"

Sasuke didn't reply.

* * *

It didn't take long for the time to expire. Soon enough, the prison guards started opening up doors and retrieving Genin that were unsuccessful in getting their secret word. All in all, a little over half of the participating teams were unsuccessful in passing the first exam. That was fine though. With Kumo and Iwa sending Genin for the exams at the last minute, there were plenty of Genin that passed and would be advancing to the second round.

* * *

"I can't believe the team you infiltrated was the first to get their secret word." Omoi snickered as he taunted Karui. "Lucky for you me and Hano were able to get the word and get us through the first challenge."

Karui crossed her arms angrily as her and her two teammates walked back to the boat. "Well I'd like to see you do better. The girl could freaking read my mind! How am I supposed to fool a person like that?"

"I don't know but it sure seemed like her chubby teammate was giving you eyes in the hallway after. Maybe you could have… you know… charmed him a little bit?" Omoi gave her a slight nudge with his elbow.

"Touch me again and you lose your arm." She threatened.

"Ok, ok, take it easy. It's probably for the best. There's a good chance that if you charmed him that you two might actually fall in love."

Karui rolled her eyes. "Please not this again."

"And then", Omoi continued, "you two would get married and you would become a Leaf-nin"

"This is so dumb." Karui shook her head.

"And then", Omoi pressed on, "you two would have a kid, maybe a daughter named-"

"Both of you should keep your minds on task. These exams just got a lot more dangerous for us and you two aren't taking it seriously."

Both Omoi's and Karui's heads snapped over to look at their teammate who had just spoke. In general, Hano was a quiet person that didn't like confrontation with his teammates. For him to passively scold his two friends was very unusual.

Omoi scratched his chin. "What's up Hano? What's got you all bothered?"

Hano walked with his hands in his pockets, looking at the ground in deep thought. The look on his face showed that he definitely wasn't ok. "There's some strong ninja here. Didn't you notice anything strange in the hallway?"

"Of course, those boys were giving off some weird vibes…" Karui responded. "A real drama show."

Hano nodded, still looking towards the ground. "That's one way to put it."

"Yeah we all felt the killer intent but those guys were itching for a fight. Feeling that doesn't necessarily mean they are that strong… " Omoi tried to justify his lack of concern.

This time Hano looked up at Omoi as they walked. "It's a lot more than that. Those boys… Naruto and Gaara…. There's something different about them. When Naruto spoke I felt it to my very core… Gaara too… I'm pretty sure both of them are Jinchuriki."

Both Karui and Omoi stopped in their tracks. Unlike other villages, it was well known who Kumo's Jinchuriki were. Over the years, the village had come to recognize them as an important part of their military force. The villagers were still cautious of them, but Jinchuriki got treated with a lot more respect in Kumo than other villages. Even their own instructor, Killer Bee, was currently the host for the 2nd most powerful Bijuu, the 8 tails. Team Samui truly understood how powerful a Jinchuriki could be.

Which is why they understood that going against two Jinchuriki in the Chunin exams was a very bad thing.

"How can you possibly know something like that?" Karui sounded angry and scared at the same time. "It's very unlikely we have a single Jinchuriki in the exams, let alone two!"

Hano squinted as he looked off in the distance at nothing in particular. "You guys might not recognize it because in your minds when you think of Jinchuriki, you think of Bee-Sensei. Most Jinchuriki don't behave or have as much control as him. I'm not basing my concerns off of my experiences with him. My older sister, Yugito, doesn't quite have as much control as Bee. When she takes a fight seriously, her chakra feels a lot more wild and uncontrolled. Naruto and Gaara gave me those same vibes just with a lot less control than even my sister. I guess we're fortunate that they don't feel nearly as powerful as her yet either… but still…"

"So…" Omoi spoke up carefully, "If you're right… you don't think we can beat them?"

"I didn't say that, but I think we need to use this information carefully" Hano responded. "I don't know what they'll do with us, but from what I've heard of past exams the second challenge will be some sort of survival test, and the third challenge will be some kind of tournament. I'm not so confident in our abilities that I want to chance us going against a Jinchuriki in a tournament if we can't help it."

"So we need to stop them from getting to the third test?" Karui questioned.

Hano nodded. "Exactly. We need to pass the second test, but we also need to make it a priority to take out Naruto and Gaara." Hano actually smiled as he reached to his back and unstrapped a bow which he was carrying. He looked it over closely and flicked the string, causing it to vibrate and hum. "The smallest man can hunt the biggest beast if he shoots it in the right spot." He looked up at his teammates confidently. "We can win this whole thing… we're just going to have to do a little hunting the next round."

* * *

The boat ride back to the mainland was mostly silent. Sasuke was sitting in the back and hadn't moved from his spot thus far. All the boats took off at the same time, traveling in one big fleet. Eventually, some of the boats veered off from the group setting sail for different destinations. Sasuke figured that those boats held the Genin who failed the first test of the exams.

It was just starting to become dusk as the sun dropped down below the horizon.

He sighed as he heard Naruto talking to Kakashi in the middle of the boat. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched the Blond's exchange with their instructor.

"But Kakashi-sensei, please just let me talk to her. I need to apologize for-"

"Naruto, my answer hasn't changed." Kakashi spoke from the chair he was sitting in, acting as a kind of guard to keep the boys away from the front of the boat. "We're going to let Sakura be for a while. She's been though a lot today and wants to be by herself."

"But I-"

"Need to respect her wishes." Kakashi finished for him.

Naruto continued talking but Sasuke decided to tune it out. All it was going to be was more of the same conversation he had heard periodically throughout their trip back to the mainland. She didn't want to talk to either of them and Kakashi was supporting her decision. It was all the same to Sasuke, he had nothing to say to her anyways.

He felt a slight pang of guilt at that thought. He looked towards the front of the boat where she was sitting. He couldn't actually see her, but he could see her outline under a blanket as she sat covering herself while staring off at the ocean.

As much as he hated to admit it, their relationship had changed. At one point he could hardly stand being around her. Since the Land of Waves however, she had chilled out. He found her a lot less… annoying.

Now though, he wondered if her feelings for him had swung too far in the wrong direction. Did she resent him? The fact that she had openly called him out and said he was weaker than Gaara in front of all the other Genin spoke volumes. The Sakura from the academy would have never said anything like that.

He shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. Why did he even care? It's not like they all had to be best buddies. Sakura was a ninja and sometimes ninja life wasn't all that fun. She would for sure know that now.

Still, he was unable to completely shake the feeling of being bothered that she was pissed at them. Sasuke made a decision. He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets and strolled towards the middle of the boat. He tried to stroll past Kakashi towards the front of the boat, trying not to make a big deal of it.

Kakashi for his part wasn't having it. He reached out and slapped a hand over Naruto's mouth to shut him up for a second while he turned towards Sasuke.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Sasuke continued to look forward but came to a stop. "I left some stuff at the front of the boat. I need to go get it."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Just stuff."

Kakashi gave him a suspicious look for a while before speaking. "Go ahead and go get your 'stuff'. "

Sasuke was surprised it was that easy. He turned and saw that his teacher was now giving him a knowing look. Kakashi knew that Sasuke was bullshitting him but probably thought it would be good for Sasuke to go sort out his 'feelings' with Sakura. The mere thought of that nearly made Sasuke turn back around.

Sasuke strolled forward again, slower this time. He knew he was stalling to prolong a conversation he wasn't comfortable with. Oh well, he'd just have to get over it.

He came to a stop a few feet behind Sakura's figure. Unsure of how to begin, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey".

She turned and he could see that her eyes were still red and puffy. It was odd to see her without any hair; he had grown used to her long bright pink hair.

"What do you want Sasuke?" her voice low.

 _Well that was… cold_. He took a deep breath before speaking his mind.

"Me and Naruto were wrong for walking away from you and picking a fight with Gaara. We're… I'm sorry."

She stared at him a while before nodding her head. The apology was short and to the point, but it was still more than she expected the Uchiha to say to her.

"I'm sorry too, I over reacted and made a scene. I'm just… I'm just so tired of being weak Sasuke. I've trained myself and pushed myself harder than I ever have in my life the last little while and I was still completely useless when it counted. Nothing's changed since the Land of Waves."

Sasuke stood silent unsure of what to say. The cynical, logical side of him agreed with her. She was still weak and for the most part, useless when it counted. Despite that, even he recognized that she had really buckled down and was starting to get better, especially since the Land of Waves.

Instead of saying something, he looked around and found an empty crate on the side of the boat. Walking over, he slide it over next to her with his foot. He then got down on a knee and put his elbow on the crate, arm vertical in the air.

"Arm wrestle me."

She rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"Get down on a knee, and arm wrestle me."

Sakura still looked confused but kneeled down next to the crate, shakily putting her slender arm across from Sasuke's. She hesitated but then linked her hand with his. "Listen Sasuke, if this is your way of trying to make me feel better then-".

"I'm not trying to make you feel better at all" he cut her off. "I want you to give it all you got. 1, 2, 3."

She was caught by surprise with his suddenness. She tried to put up a fight, but he slammed her arm down right away.

Sasuke frowned. "You're not taking this seriously."

"I am!" she spat back.

He raised her arm so they were back in the starting position. "You need to use your chakra control on your muscles. Without it, you'll never stand a chance. I plan on going all out and using my chakra this time as well." His eyes glimmered red as he activated the Sharingan. "I'm going to use this to evaluate every possible angle and every possible twitch in your movements to exploit any leverage I can."

"If you're trying to prove that you're stronger than me, then you've already made your point." Her eyes narrowed at him. "You don't need to keep slamming me down to feed your ego."

Sasuke shook his head. "Look… just… do what I said. Use your chakra this time."

Sakura sighed. "Ok I'll try." She closed her eyes, feeling out her chakra network. She poured extra chakra to her arm muscles, not enough to overwhelm her system, but enough that she should be able to put up more of a fight. She concentrated, precisely regulating the flow of energy with her above average control.

She opened her eyes and nodded. "I'm ready."

"Go!" Sasuke suddenly said as his whole body tensed, putting everything he had into trying to put her arm down.

Her arm didn't move in the slightest.

She also looked like she was straining, but looked confused as well. "Sasuke…. Are you really even…. Gah…. Trying?" she muttered out between breaths.

A vein appeared on his temple. "Gah… Yes… dammit..." Sakura was surprised to hear how strained his voice really was.

With that she pushed a little harder and her eyes went wide when she saw Sasuke's arm move backwards. Slowly, inch by inch, she was starting to best the Uchiha. It was hard, but eventually she heard the 'tic' sound of the back of his hand touching the crate. She simply stared. She beat Sasuke Uchiha.

Sasuke was breathing hard, and deactivated his Sharingan. "Sakura… you do still have a long way to go. A couple months of hard training cannot undo years of mediocrity. That being said…", he looked down at his arm that was firmly pinned beneath hers, "you're stronger than you think."

There was some brutal honesty there but she understood the point he was trying to make. She slowly nodded as she let him go. She sat back up in her seat contemplating, not nearly as sad as she was before.

Sasuke stood and again found himself unsure of what to say. He decided that he had done enough and started to turn to leave. He stopped when he felt her hand grab his arm.

"Wait… will you… sit with me?"

Sasuke gave a slight nod and took a seat on the crate next to her. They sat there in silence for a while before she reached out and took his hand in hers. It wasn't a loving or romantic gesture, just a… gesture.

"Thanks for cheering me up." She spoke softly, almost in a whisper.

Sasuke didn't know how he felt about the whole 'hand-holding-thing', but he allowed it, turning his head to pretend to look out at the ocean. "Hn" he simply grunted back at her.

She let out a small smile

* * *

Mui sighed. Night had fallen on the castle, but the building remained active with activity. Apparently a prisoner had escaped from his cell and no one knew where he was. For some inexplicable reason, the prisoner had regained control of his chakra network, had attacked his guards by surprise, and left them knocked out while he fled the island.

No matter. The guards would find him and this whole mystery would be solved. Mui had a flawless escapee record ever since he was put in charge as warden of the prison and that wasn't about to change now.

He heard a knock at the door. He figured it was an update from the search.

"Enter" he shouted, although he didn't turn around. He heard the squeak of the door hinges as it was opened and then closed.

Mui froze when he heard the voice behind him.

"My, my Mui. I hear you had a prisoner escape. I do hope that you aren't losing your touch. Ku ku ku ku…".

Mui was a composed man confident in himself and his abilities. Right now however, he felt none of that. He turned and found himself staring across the room at the Snake Sannin himself.

"Orochimaru… What are you doing here?!"

The uninvited guest wore a broad smirk as he walked a little closer, putting Mui on edge. "I'm here to make you an offer."

Mui shook his head. "You're arrogant if you think you're going to break into my castle without consequences. You might kill me, but I have an army of well-trained guards all over this island. Even you aren't strong enough to take them all on."

"What's all this talk of fighting? I'm just here to talk, ku ku ku. Maybe I jumped to business too quickly eh? I should get to know you first; after all we're going to be the best of friends. What's your favorite food? Hobby? Book?" Orochimaru was having the time of his life. He always liked messing with military types that took themselves too seriously.

"What business can you and I possibly have together?" Mui sounded frustrated.

"I need something from you, and in return I'll give you something you want. Tell me, how is your son?"

Mui froze, the color draining from his face. "How… how could you possibly know about that?"

"I have eyes everywhere, including this prison. I hear you sacrificed him to some cube?"

"Shut up!" Mui ran forward towards Orochimaru trying to strike him, consequences be damned.

Orochimaru swatted the fist away with a frown and then backhanded Mui across the face, dropping him to the ground. "Control yourself, you don't want to be attacking the one person that can bring your son back right?"

Mui looked up at him not saying a word.

"That's better. I know a jutsu that allows me to bring back loved ones long lost." Orochimaru crouched down in front of Mui, reaching out and stroking Mui's hair creepily. "I am the only one with the power to fix your mistake. All you have to do is give me what I want."

For the first time in his life, Mui felt some semblance of hope come back to him. Something he hadn't felt since… well... his son died.

"I'll do anything if you can bring my boy back."

Orochimaru started to chuckle. His plan was starting to fit together quite nicely.

* * *

 _Extra:_

 _After the third ninja war_

Zakaza marveled at what the Master had created. At one time, this mountain was nothing more than a heap of dirt with a cave carved inside. Now, the cave had the hustle and bustle of a small town. Children were running back and forth attending their various classes in different rooms carved out in the caves. The contracted teachers were keeping them on a strict schedule. Normally, that might have been a problem for children so young, but these orphans whom had lived through poverty were quick to recognize the opportunity before them. They were probably the best behaved group of kids out there.

Zakaza himself would try to stop by some of the classes sometimes. He had never received much in the form of an education, so a lot of what was being taught was new to him. He, like the young children around him, was grateful for the opportunities provided by the Master.

Zakaza walked down the hallway. Today he would not be attending class. The Master had asked to speak with him, of what he didn't know. Zakaza walked deeper into the mountain until he came up to a large wooden door, the entrance to the Master's study. He gave the door a gentle knock.

He heard a grunt of something that sounded like 'come in', so he opened the door. He was greeted with the sight of the Master looking over an old scroll, stroking his white beard.

The Master looked up and greeted him with a smile.

"Child, please sit." The Master motioned towards the chair across the desk.

Zakaza sat down on the old chair, dust lightly getting kicked up. "You wanted to see me?"

"Indeed, I wanted to ask you how you think the children are doing?" The Master asked, locking eyes with Zakaza.

"Well… I'd say good all things considered. They seem to be making themselves at home here and are doing well in their classes." He shrugged. "I'd say that's pretty good."

"I agree, even I'm surprised at their eagerness to learn." The Master responded.

Zakaza nodded his head. "Master, if I may ask, you knew that already didn't you? Why did you want my opinion?"

The Master chuckled. "Child, I have you in a unique role here. Whether you've realized it or not, I've chosen you to be my heir should my time be cut prematurely in this life. If I were gone, I am trusting you to carry on my vision and ideals. I need to make sure you are observant of what's going on around you."

"But why me? I'm not special, I'm not strong or talented. As grateful as I am for the opportunity, surely there's others that would be better suited to inherit all of this." Zakaza motioned all around at the cave kingdom they had built.

The Master shook his head. "In due time, you'll recognize what I see in you Zakaza."

Zakaza flinched at that. It wasn't often that the Master called him by name.

"Now then, I want you in classes gaining as much education as you can for the next year. In one year, you and I will be venturing out into the world again to find new instructors for our large family."

"New instructors? Do you not like the ones that we found?" Zakaza asked.

"Our current instructors are good at what they do. What we need, however, are instructors to help them become soldiers. We need to find those trainers and get them under contract. I want them ready to go when our current educators' contracts expire."

Zakaza nodded. "So we're going to go try and get some academy instructors or something?"

The Master actually started to laugh. "Ho ho ho, dear child, we are training up the most dangerous army the world has ever seen! You and I will be looking in the darkest of places to find the most dangerous and abominable of Missing-nin, not some low class academy babysitters."

Zakaza felt a little cold on the inside but nodded anyways. "Master… you know if we put people like that teaching the orphans… we'll be robbing them of their innocence."

The Master smiled. "Precisely."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **We broke 100 followers! Thanks for your support. I'm hoping to jump into the second test of the exams next chapter. I'm really excited for what's coming up.**

 **For some reason, I find myself having a difficult time writing Sasuke's character. I really like him, but from a story telling prospective it's hard to have his character experience some progression without it seeming really out of character. Oh well, hopefully I'm keeping a good balance with him becoming more open with his team, yet still maintaining that lovely asshole personality.**

 **What about him and Sakura? My plan was to have them paired with other people… but this chapter got me thinking… Maybe I do like the thought of them together?**

 **I don't know. I'm going to ponder it for a while. No promises one way or another, but I'd say I'm more open to the idea of a Sasuke X Sakura pairing.**

 **Also, this being my first and only Fic, I'm slowly discovering that the review process to look for mistakes takes quite a long time. Even when I reread a chapter, I'm still finding that I'm missing mistakes. I'm thinking about reaching out to find a Beta reader. Being a newbie and all, I'm not sure how to go about that process. I figured I'd start here in the author notes. If you're a fan of this story, and are confident in your Beta reading abilities, please shoot me a PM. Let's chat.**

 **Until next chapter, I bid you all farewell.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The trip to Kusagakure was a short one. Shortly after arriving at the harbor, all the Genin and their instructors traveled by foot to the mainland where the hidden village was located. To the untrained eye, it appeared that all the Genin were traveling in one big group. Upon closer inspection, one would see that each village had formed its own walking group within the larger mass.

The traveling was especially stressful for the Jounin. They were constantly on edge, keeping an eye on enemy Jounin from other villages. There was an unspoken truce during the exams, but one couldn't be too careful.

A couple of days later, the mass finally caught sight of Kusagakure.

The ninja would be staying at the various inns located in the village. They weren't expected to start the second part of the exams until the next day, so it gave the Genin a final opportunity to prepare themselves. Some Genin chose to rest and conserve their strength. Some tried to get some last minute training in. Others snuck off with friends, intending on partying to have one last night of fun before whatever came next in the exams.

For Ino, she chose to spend the time sewing.

Ino laid out the red fabric in front of her. She was working on a project for Sakura. Ever since what had happened at Hozuki Castle, Ino had felt bad for her friend. She had noticed, while walking on the road after the boat journey, that Team 7 seemed to have amended their relationship. All three walked together as usual, with Naruto jabbering their ears off.

The other thing that Ino noticed was that Sakura had taken to wearing a black bandana around her head to cover up her missing hair. Although Ino understood her friend's situation, a black bandana with the red/white dress that Sakura usually wore set off Ino's fashion alert. It simply would not do.

So Ino had taken it upon herself to fix the situation. She plotted with Naruto and had him steal one of Sakura's dresses. Once Ino got a hold of it, she found some red matching fabric with white trimming and did some tailoring. Ino smiled to herself as she inspected her handwork after she finished the last stitch.

She looked up when she heard a light tap on the door. She was there alone. Asuma had offered to take their team out for dinner, but she had passed on the offer. Curious, Ino opened the door and was greeted by a very familiar blond.

"Hey Ino! Is the dressed finished yet?"

"Yep! I literally just finished it. Good timing whiskers." She walked over and held up the dress for him to see.

The body of the dress itself was unchanged. The modification Ino made was on the top. She had added a stylish hood that curved up and came to a point over the wearer's forehead. It had a very ninja-esque feel to it, other than the coloring wasn't exactly covert.

Naruto beamed as he admired her handiwork. "Wow Ino that's amazing! Man, I might need to get you to add a hood to my jacket. That'd look so cool!"

"Would the hood be orange?"

"Yeah!"

"No deal."

"What- wait why not?"

"Because orange is the worst Naruto."

"Whatever it's better than purple!"

"Hey you take that back! Purple is very stylish and fancy!"

"Yeah and it makes you look like a plum!"

"Well at LEAST I don't look like a freaking pumpkin!"

They stopped when they heard banging on the wall coming from the next room over. They heard a man shout at them from the adjacent room.

"Hey! Will you two lovebirds keep it down? Some of us are trying to relax!"

Ino's cheeks instantly went red, she didn't know if it was from anger or embarrassment. She watched as Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He spoke up first, this time in a much quieter voice.

"Maybe we should go take that to Sakura..."

She nodded quickly folding up the garment and carrying it outside. She was still bothered by the whole 'lovebirds' comment. Why? She didn't know, but that bothered her even more!

The two of them strolled down the street side by side. All around were ninja (especially Genin) from different villages. Ino did suppose that, walking together like this, one could easily mistake them for a couple. She glanced at her traveling companion as he walked with his hands behind his head. The idea of being with Naruto was silly to say the least… but not as silly as she once would have thought. He was stronger than he looked, kind, funny at times…

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. _'What the heck am I thinking?'_

"Ino?"

She was brought back to reality as she heard him speak. "Uhh, yes Naruto?"

"Is everything ok? Usually you'd be talking my ear off right about now." He smiled as he teased her.

"Oh everything is fine." She lied. "Just thinking about tomorrow. Maybe my nerves are just getting to me."

"You'll be able to get through it. Your team was the first one to complete the last test. Getting through this one should be no problem."

"Thanks Nar-" She was cut off as she bumped shoulders with a stranger walking by.

"Hey watch it Konoha!" A girl from Iwa with short boyish hair yelled at her. "Keep your eyes.." Ino watched as the girl stopped talking when she locked eyes with Naruto. The stranger's eyes went wide.

Ino didn't know what that was about but she wasn't about to let some random stranger talk to her like that. "Sorry SIR I wasn't looking where I was going. Oh wait, my bad, are you supposed to be a girl? It's just so hard for me to tell with that short hair and boyish face."

To Ino's surprise, the girl didn't react at all. She just continued to stare at Naruto with a bewildered look on her face. Naruto, growing uncomfortable tapped Ino on the back. "Maybe we should get going…"

"Wait!" The girl stopped them while pointing at Naruto. "You're the kid from the first exam that made the scene in the hallway right? Naruto? Why the hell do you look exactly like the Yellow Flash?!"

Ino raised an eyebrow as she looked at Naruto. The girl was talking about the Yondaime Hokage. ' _But Naruto doesn't look like…'_ Ino's eyes went wide as she made the exact same realization. She had never noticed it before, but the stranger had a point. Naruto did share a lot of similarities with the Yondaime.

Naruto had a sheepish grin on his face as he shrugged. "Maybe we're just both really good looking?"

"So you're not related to him?" The girl asked.

"No, I'm an orphan. I also don't feel like answering any more questions to someone being so rude."

The girl squinted as she studied Naruto closer. "Are you sure you aren't…"

Ino had had enough. She stepped in between the girl and Naruto, making sure the girl could see that she was pissed. "Why don't you move along Tomboy and stop bothering us?"

Now the girl's attention was back onto Ino. "Easy there Barbie, you're starting to talk tough. Make sure you can actually back it up."

Before Ino could respond, Naruto interjected, gently pulling her back.

"Woah, easy there. I think we all got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we should start over." He held out a hand to the girl. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and she is Ino Yamanaka, it's nice to meet you."

The girl stared at the hand but didn't take it. "The name's Kurotsuchi." She locked eyes with Ino. "Why is your boyfriend here being so nice?"

There it was again. "First off, Naruto is not my boyfriend! Second, I have no idea." She turned to him slightly pissed. "Why are you being so nice?"

"I guess I just don't see the need for us to all hate each other just because we're all from different villages. All you two did was bump shoulders… I mean… are we all really that petty with each other?"

Kurotsuchi actually chuckled. "I see it now. You're an idealist." Kurotsuchi turned back to Ino. "What do you think Barbie, can we get along?"

Ino scowled at the nickname. "I think you already know the answer to that Tomboy."

Kurotsuchi actually grinned wider at the insult. "My thoughts exactly." She turned back to Naruto. "Sorry, but idealism like yours has no place in the ninja world. Besides, I couldn't be friends with some pampered princess that cares more about her looks than actually being a good ninja."

"You don't know anything about me." Ino rebutted. "Why don't we go find a training field right now and I'll show you what this 'pampered princess' is capable of?"

Just then, a large teenage boy and a smaller girl with a cat sitting on her head, walked out of a nearby all-you-can-eat BBQ grill wearing Iwa headbands. Said boy had a skewer of meat in each hand as he munched away. They looked confused as they approached the bickering girls.

"Kurotsuchi? What's going on?" The boy muttered with a mouth full of food.

"Barbie here wants to go have a 'friendly' spar. I was about to oblige her."

The boy shook his large head. "Oh no, no, no. Sensei said we aren't allowed to pick fights with other Genin outside of the exam tests." He turned towards Naruto and Ino. "I apologize if Kurotsuchi has been a pain. My name is Akatsuchi and this here is Tamaki", he said motioning towards the girl with his large head.

Kurotsuchi scowled. "It's not a fight, it's a spar. They are totally different."

Tamaki shook her head next and spoke up with a softer, high-pitched voice. "Sorry Kurotsuchi, not happening."

"Huh, well when did you two get so bold…" Kurotsuchi muttered under her breath.

Ino smiled at seeing Kurotsuchi get a talking to from her teammates. "Well Tomboy, I guess you have your teammates to thank. They saved you from a lot of embarrassment."

"Oh no, you're not out of the woods yet! Just because I can't spar with you doesn't mean we can't have a friendly competition." Kurotsuchi looked at her large teammate eating the skewer meat and an evil idea occurred to her. "How about you and me go over to that BBQ place and have an all you can eat BBQ contest? Unless of course eating all that meat will interfere with your dainty Barbie diet?"

Ino looked over and watched as Akatsuchi took another bite to fill his already very full mouth. The truth, which she would never admit out loud, was that she was indeed on a strict diet and she did pride herself on how she looked. An all you can eat BBQ contest was about the worst thing she could think of for maintaining her figure.

However, given the current circumstances, she didn't give a damn.

"You're on Tomboy!" Ino shoved Sakura's dress into Naruto's hands and marched over to the restaurant with her opponent.

* * *

Naruto followed close behind with the other two Iwa Genin. This wasn't exactly how he wanted this all to play out, but hey, it was still better than them killing each other. He turned to his two new companions. "By the way, my name is Naruto. Sorry if Ino is being a little uhhh…", he watched as Ino grabbed a chuck of pork with her hands and started devouring it, "… crazy."

"Yeah we knew who you were. You're the kid that tried to fight Gaara in the hallway right?" Akatsuchi watched as Kurotsuchi started shoving beef brisket into her mouth at an alarming rate.

"Yeah I'm that guy." Naruto said, wondering if everyone knowing his name was a good thing or not.

* * *

 _One hour later_

Ino took deep breaths as she stared at the plate in front of her. The meat sitting there seemed to be mocking her as she tried to not think of the unholy amount of calories she had just consumed. She was starting to reach her physical limits as she stared across at her adversary, who looked like she was about to puke. Empty, dirty plates were stacked all around them as their face off was finally reaching its conclusion. Over the course of the last hour, people had started watching them, bewildered that two girls of their size could shove down so much food so quickly. What had started out as Naruto, Tamaki, and Akatsuchi spectating had soon turned into a large crowd.

"What…. Barbie?", Kurotsuchi panted, "Are you… finished already? I'm not even close… to being full."

Ino watched as the girl slowly reached forward and put another piece of beef into her mouth, taking the lead in their little contest. Kurotsuchi took several minutes to chew and then muster up all the strength she could to actually swallow it.

Ino sighed as she heard the gulping sound, knowing she could not let this Iwa bitch beat her. She turned when she heard Naruto call out to her.

"You can do it Ino! Show her why you have the nickname Ino-pig!"

Although she was sure he was trying to cheer her on, she made a mental note to murder Naruto in his sleep tonight. Taking a deep breath, she reached forward and grabbed not one, but two pieces of beef. She quickly shoved them into her mouth and tried chewing them as fast as she could. At this point all the meat was flavorless in her mouth, her taste buds having been so overwhelmed by the amount of BBQ spices it had tasted today.

Now was time for the hard part. She tried swallowing it, but it simply did not want to go down. Her stomach already felt stretched to the limit. Her body rejected the additional meat and she almost threw up right there on the spot as she gaged. Slowly, she regained her composure, as she managed to force the meat down without incident.

"Looks… like… I'm ahead now…" She breathed out, feeling the most bloated she had ever felt before.

The girl across from her was stunned. Ino would have laughed at her BBQ stained mouth and fingers if she herself had not looked the same way. Their dignity while eating had long since been thrown out.

"Ok Barbie… I'll admit… you're doing better than I thought... "

"Really?... Does that mean… you give up… Tomboy?" Ino prayed to whatever gods were out there that she would.

"Not... on your life…", with that Kurotsuchi reached forward and grabbed two pieces of pork, shoving them in one at a time, and swallowing them whole without chewing. She nearly choked on the second one, but she managed to dislodge the clog and force it down.

"Your… move… Barbie." Kurotsuchi was clearly struggling.

Ino knew she couldn't eat anymore but she had to try. She grabbed a piece of pork and put it into her mouth, trying her damndest to get it down. Then she heaved and she knew it was all over. She quickly covered her mouth as she ran outside and let out the contents of her stomach onto the ground. The smell was nauseating as she looked up to see Kurotsuchi standing at the doorway triumphant.

"See Barbie you couldn't hang with me after-" At that moment, Kurotsuchi's eyes went wide as she covered her own mouth. She quickly ran up beside Ino and also puked onto the ground.

Between their hard breathing and retching, they could hear the crowd inside roaring in laughter.

Once they were done, both girls just stood there as people emptied out of the building, slapping them on the back and telling them 'good job!' Soon enough, they were standing their alone, except for their teammates. Akatsuchi, who apparently had a weak stomach, wasn't looking so good after watching the two girls puke. He was green in the face, with Naruto under one arm and Tamaki under the other supporting him. Ino watched as Naruto lead him over to a bench to sit down saying, "Come on there big guy, you'll be alright. Easy does it."

Ino was surprised when she felt another hand give her a slap on the back. She turned and surprisingly enough found Kurotsuchi giving her a smile.

"Well Barbie I guess you're not just all flowers and makeup after all. That being said, I knew a Leaf-nin would never be able to compete with me, even if it was just an eating contest. Good effort anyhow." Kurotsuchi extended her hand out to Ino.

Ino hesitated but took the hand, shaking it. She figured this was Kurotsuchi's weird way of burying the hatchet.

"I'm not too ashamed of losing to a short haired Tom boy with no chest. Congratulations anyhow." Ino teased.

"Oh Ho! Still have some sass in you? Well Barbie maybe one of these days you and I will have a chance to actually go at it in a fight. Then I'll show you how outclassed you really are."

"Or I'll knock your ass down in front of all your Iwa friends." Ino smirked.

And just like that, an unexpected rivalry was born.

* * *

 _Later that day_

Sakura finished prepping her supplies for tomorrow. She had packed a variety of different medical related items in her pack, not really knowing what she'd actually be needing. She was placing a scalpel into her medical pack, when she stopped for a moment to look at her finger tips. Every time she looked at them or in a mirror, she got the reminder of what Gaara had done to her. A shiver went up her spine. He could have and would have killed her if not for the rules that had protected her. The feeling of helplessness was too fresh on her mind.

Still, at least now she knew how far she needed to push herself. She still planned on upholding her vow to catch up to the boys and not be a liability. With Gaara now planning on hunting her down, she knew she'd have to eventually face him as well. The task seemed monumental, but it was her burden to bear. She wouldn't have the boys always fighting her battles for her.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed the room door open up and Naruto walked inside with Ino in tow. The first thing she noticed was how gross Ino looked. Her hair was a mess, she was sweating, and… was that BBQ sauce all over her clothes? Sakura had so many questions.

Before she could say anything, Naruto started talking.

"Sakura! You won't believe what just happened! Ino bumped shoulders with this girl from Iwa and one thing lead to another and they had an all-you-can-eat-" Whatever he was about to say was silenced as Ino slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Naruto! Let's keep that story to ourselves."

Now Sakura was really intrigued. "What story? Come on Ino, it can't be that bad." She teased.

Ino shook her head. "Nope! Maybe some other time, but right now I have to head back to my room and pass out for the rest of the day. I stopped by because I wanted to give you this." She walked forward handing Sakura a red bundle.

Curiously, Sakura took the bundle and unfolded the red fabric. At first she was confused. It just looked like one of her normal red dresses she wore every day. That's when she noticed something different around the neckline. She held the fabric up by the shoulders for a closer inspection. It looked like Ino had sewn on a matching red hood with white trimming. It looked… well perfect!

Sakura beamed. "Oh Ino, you didn't have to do this." She said getting up and giving her friend a hug. "It looks amazing."

"Well I had to do something to help you get rid of the ugly bandana you've been wearing around." Ino smiled at the warm embrace. "Also, Naruto helped me steal the dress so he deserves some kudos as well."

Sakura walked over and gave Naruto a hug as well. "Thanks Naruto, you're sweet."

Naruto blushed at the embrace. "Geez, I never thought I'd be thanked for stealing your stuff."

"Just this once." Sakura said as she broke the embrace.

* * *

 _That night_

Naruto had decided to walk Ino back to the Inn that Team 10 was staying at. Ino didn't mind the company, but it was starting to dawn on her how much time the two were starting to spend together. In the academy she hadn't had a conversation with him for longer than a few minutes. Now they were spending most of the day together. Oddly enough, she was enjoying her time with the Blond.

She was again trying to explain to him why Orange was not the best color in the world, when he suddenly came to a stop. They were near the middle of town and she could see that he was staring at a large statue of the Sage of Six paths… at least, that's what it was supposed to be. No one really knew if the Sage was actually a real person, let alone what he might of looked like. The sculpture definitely had to have been created with some artistic liberties.

"What's wrong? Why are you staring at the statue?"

Naruto scratched his chin for a moment thinking. "Ino… what if we give the Sage over there a little makeup job?"

"You got to be kidding Naruto, you want to pull one of your stupid pranks in a different village?"

"Oh come on it'll be fun."

"No way, I still feel sick from eating BBQ earlier today. I just want to go back to my room and go to bed."

"Oh stop being such a granny and have some fun." He teased, baiting her.

Ino's eyebrow twitched a little. "Who you calling granny?! Fine, I'll help do your stupid prank. We better not get caught."

"Don't worry, this isn't the first time I've done something like this. You wouldn't happen to have a makeup kit on you by chance, would you?"

Ino reached into her pouch and, with a little embarrassment, brought out a mini makeup kit and handed it to him. "It's just a little one that I pack around for missions and stuff…"

"Perfect!" Naruto popped it open and looked inside gleefully. He started to boldly stroll towards the statue.

Ino quickly rushed after him. "Naruto! Shouldn't we check around to make sure the coast is clear?" She whispered in a hushed voice.

"There's no one around, everyone is probably home getting ready for bed. "

Ino still felt uneasy and cursed herself for being talked into this. She did a quick look around and, to the best of her ability, she couldn't see anyone on the streets during this dark night.

When they arrived at the statue, Naruto hopped up onto one of the arms and climbed up until he was straddling the large statue's shoulder. Ino did the same on the other side as she watched him start to apply some powder to the statues cheeks. He threw a tube of lipstick over to Ino, who caught it and with a small smile, started to apply it to the statue's lips.

"Isn't this like sacrilegious or something?"

"Nah it's fine" Naruto chuckled. "We're just giving him a new look that's all. Maybe the real Sage did wear makeup back in the day."

Before Ino could respond the two heard someone shout "HEY YOU!" They looked down and saw a Ninja from Kusa, sprinting towards them from the street below.

"Damn it Naruto! I told you we would-" Ino was cut short as she felt him leap by her, grabbing her as he went by. They landed on the ground and he quickly took her hand running forward.

"Quick, run!"

She started to sprint as she was being tugged along by him. She peeked over her shoulder and saw the Kusa-nin gaining on them. "Naruto he's going to catch us!"

Naruto crossed his fingers together and created a couple dozen clones, half of which went on to henge into looking like Ino. Pairs of Narutos and Inos scattered all around to confuse the poor Kusa-nin.

The real Naruto and Ino came upon a bridge over a river. They made it about halfway across before Naruto grabbed Ino, stopping her.

"What? We need to keep going!"

Naruto gave her a nervous grin. "Actually, I just found the perfect hiding spot. Let's jump in the river!"

"No Naruto, I am not jumping into-" Again, she was cut off as Naruto grabbed her hand and leapt over the bridge railing taking her with him.

Ino nearly gasped underwater when she felt her body hit the water. IT WAS SO COLD! She felt a pair of arms pull her up to the surface. Before she could start yelling at him, Naruto clamped a hand over her mouth and put a finger on his lips signaling for her to be quiet. It wasn't too long before the two Genin heard a pair of footsteps run across the bridge above them.

They waited there a moment in silence until they were sure the coast was clear. Finally, after a few minutes Ino bit down onto the hand covering her mouth.

"Ow! What was that for?" Naruto yelled, shaking his hand.

"For tossing me into the water and getting me all wet!" Ino replied, her wet hair having come undone out of her ponytail and was draping around her face and shoulders.

"I didn't toss you, we jumped together!"

"More like you dragged me in!"

"Hey we escaped didn't we?! You should be thanking me!"

"As if, only a moron would think that jumping in the river is a good idea. "

"I'd rather be a moron than some pampered Barbie!"

"Oh yeah?!" Ino splashed his face with some water. "At least I have the sense enough to know that Orange is the WORST color there is!"

Naruto wiped the water out of his eyes. "And there it is, always bringing Orange into this! You're just jealous of my style!" Naruto splashed her back in the face.

"Style? ROCK LEE HAS BETTER STYLE THAN YOU!" She grabbed onto him attempting to dunk him or drown him, she wasn't sure which.

"Stop yelling you Banshee!" He yelled as he wrestled her back.

"Banshee?! Now you're going to get it Uzumaki!" She got behind him and put a rear naked choke on him.

"Gah… you…. wish!" Naruto leaned back in the water so Ino was dunked under the surface. Eventually, she let go and came to the surface, spitting the water out of her mouth in a huff. The two stared each other down, breathing heavily while treading water.

Abruptly, both of them threw back their heads and started to laugh.

"I got to admit Whiskers, that was actually a lot of fun." Ino smiled.

"Oh yeah, some Kusa higher ups are going to be so pissed tomorrow!" Naruto responded as they made their way to the shore.

Once Ino found some footing and was able to walk up the bank, she felt her wet skin get goosebumps in the night air. She crossed her arms, rubbing them, trying to get them to warm up a bit.

Naruto looked over and saw her doing this so he took off his jacket, twisted it to wring out some of the water, and then offered it to her. "Here take this. I know it's ORANGE and all but it should help keep the wind off of you."

Ino eyed the jacket. She wanted it so bad. She reached out and took it from his hands, draping it over her shoulders and felt instant relief. "Thanks Naruto, but I feel bad for stealing your jacket. Aren't you cold?"

He rubbed the back of his head and gave her one of his signature grins. "Nah I'm good. I'm usually a little hot anyways so tonight feels great!"

Ino smiled back as she took a long strand of her hair and tried to wring it out. Her hair had gone wild, with some of the wet hair coming around to stick to the front of her face. It was a little frustrating for her to try and tame it again.

Naruto chuckled as he watched her. "I'm glad I don't have long hair. That looks like such a pain to maintain. Here, let me help." He stepped forward and used his hand to brush some of her hair off of her face to the side, getting it out of her eyes.

Both Genin froze as they looked at each other, Naruto with his hand on Ino's smooth face, Ino with Naruto's jacket wrapped around her shoulders. Both suddenly became very aware of a certain… tension… in the air.

Naruto quickly brought his hand back laughing awkwardly. "Well geez it sure is getting late. Maybe we should get heading back."

"R-Right", Ino agreed slightly taken off guard by the situation.

Both started walking back towards the Inn that Team 10 was staying at. After a few minutes of silence, Ino couldn't stand it anymore and had to ask a question that had been bothering her the last few days.

"Naruto… do you remember what we talked about when we had dinner a few nights ago?"

"Yeah, we talked about a lot of stuff." He looked at her. "What's on your mind?"

"Well… at one point in the conversation you were venting to be about the villagers…"

Naruto frowned, knowing where this was going.

"… and one thing you never told me was why you think the villagers hate you?" Ino continued. "Usually you're an open book, so I'm curious why it's such a big deal for you to talk to me about that."

Naruto thought for a moment looking for the right words. "Ino… I can't really talk about it…"

Now Ino was really curious. "Well can you tell me why not?"

"No." He simply stated. "Even if I was allowed to talk about it, I wouldn't. I'm afraid… nah never mind."

Ino grabbed onto his arm pulling him in close as they walked. "Aw come on Naruto, it's me! I have a good ear for listening, all you need to do is spill the beans buster." She teased.

He gave her a sad smile. "Ino, I'm pretty sure if you knew my secret you'd hate me too."

Ino frowned. "Now that's just ridiculous. It can't be THAT bad."

"Ino, it's pretty bad."

"Regardless, I promise I won't hate you."

"You're making a promise you can't keep Yamanaka." He said to her in a serious tone.

"Ugh, fine keep your mysterious secret for now. Eventually though, you're going to have to tell me Whiskers. Friends share secrets between each other, even the bad ones."

"Oh yeah? Well what's one of your secrets Ino?"

"Hmmm well I… " She stopped talking when she realized that they had finally arrived at the Inn. ".. I guess I'll have to tell you another time. I don't want to keep you awake much longer." She took off the jacket and handed it back to Naruto. "Thanks for the jacket. Today has been… interesting." She laughed.

"Yeah it was. We should do this more often." He took a couple of steps back, heading towards the Inn that Team 7 was staying at. "And you keep thinking on that secret Ino, I'm excited to hear a juicy detail from the life of the and only Ino Yamanaka!"

She stood there and waved goodbye as he walked out of ear shot. Once he disappeared around the street corner, Ino whispered out loud to herself.

"My secret…" She let out a quiet laugh, "… is that I'm starting to crush on Naruto Uzumaki."

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Fluff chapter before we get back to the action. Sorry if you don't like the romantic cliches I dotted in here, I figured we needed something fun to loosen up a bit after the last few chapters. Next chapter will start the survival test of the exams. Now to keep pushing forward to the 100,000 words mark!**

 **Thanks!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Everyone had been instructed on a meeting point in the middle of town and told to pack their survival gear. Once the herd of Genin had congregated, some Kusa-nin lead the group outside of the village. The Genin followed the Kusa-nin through what seemed like an endless green sea of grassy plains. Eventually, after about an hour of walking, a small ridgeline came into view. It wasn't very tall or steep, but it was high enough to obscure the view of what was on the other side. It only took the Genin a few minutes to walk up the ridge before they got a clear view of what awaited them. To most of the Genin that weren't from Kusagakure, the view was simply breathtaking. Expanding out in front of them was the largest array of canyons any of them had ever seen. The ridge they were standing on seemed to expand out in a circle around the canyons making the land look like a giant bowl. The gorges looked deep, with the interconnecting 'branches' of the canyon reaching out towards the surrounding ridges. The best description that came to mind, was that the canyons had a similar pattern to a window that had been cracked by a rock.

Before any of them could give it more thought, a large balding Kusa-nin stepped out in front of the group an introduced himself:

"Welcome to the second part of the Chunin exams, the survival test. I will be your proctor for this portion of the exams." He motioned to the canyon land behind him, "this will be your proving ground to see if you really have what it takes to be a Chunin or if you're just soft skinned bitches like I think you are. These canyons are affectionately known as the 'Spider's Web'. We call them that for two reasons. 1- they look like a spider's web. 2- like a fly stuck in the web, once you enter the canyons, it's very hard to make it out alive. Just so I'm making myself clear, you all are the flies in this situation. I encourage each and every one of you to make the right decision and walk away with your tails between your legs. Give up trying to be a ninja and instead live out your worthless life as a civilian."

A random Genin started to snicker. "Well that was dramatic. Let me guess, is there a big hungry spider in there waiting to gobble us up?" It was daring to speak up like that, but the question did cause a few other Genin to chuckle.

The proctor gave the boy a big grin. "Oh there are big spiders all right but those will be the least of your worries boy. You have two objectives for this test. First off, each team will be randomly placed on the edge of the Spider's Web. From there, you will have one week to navigate the inside of the canyons until you reach the center. There, you'll find a building to report to. Think of it as the finish line. As far as navigation goes, the only rule is that none of you can climb up and out of the canyon. The moment we see one of your heads pop out on top for a break, you'll be disqualified.

This means you'll have two choices for traveling through the canyon. One, you can try traveling on the canyon walls themselves using various natural trails. Or two, you can try traveling on the bottom of the canyons. It doesn't really matter what you'll choose, you all will be dead brats either way.

The canyon walls are treacherous to put it lightly. Not only will you be exposed with very little cover, but you'll be completely restricted to the trails you try to travel. This limits your mobility greatly. You won't have much space to move around, some trails will abruptly drop off leading you to a dead end, and some trails might just give out beneath your feet and cause you to fall all the way down to the bottom. Don't even think about walking on the canyon walls with chakra. The soil here is very loose and eroded which means it will never support your weight.

Traveling at the bottom of the web is even worse. Sure, you'll have greater mobility and some vegetation cover but that doesn't outweigh the cons. The bottom of the canyon only sees limited sunlight each day. The canyon wildlife also lives at the bottom of the canyon… and by wildlife, I mean animals that the Shinigami himself made in the dark to gobble up little would be ninjas." The proctor shot a glance over to the boy that had commented earlier. "Rocks from above will sometimes fall like rain. In narrow parts of the canyons, you'll see flash flooding in an instant from a rain storm miles away."

The man stood silent for a moment letting the Genin soak all that in. "Have I convinced any of you to walk away yet?" The proctor was slightly disappointed when none of them walked did.

"Ok you're all fools then. The second goal of the exam is to take a scroll from an enemy team." The proctor held up two scrolls, a brown one and a white one. "These here are the Earth and Heaven scrolls. You'll need to show up at the finish line with both. Each team will be handed either a Heaven or Earth scroll. It will be up to each of you to find a team that has the other scroll you need and take it from them by any means necessary. You are forbidden from opening any of these scrolls during the exam. Now then, each of you will be lead you to your team's starting point. May Kami have mercy on your souls in the next life."

* * *

"Geez talk about killing the mood." Naruto muttered under his breath as Team 7 followed a Kusa-nin. They walked on top of the ridgeline for a while, walking the outer curve of the canyon bowl. About twenty minutes later, the Kusa-nin stopped and walked down the ridge until he came to a cliff on one of the canyon branches. There, a rope had been tied down and draped over the side of the edge, descending into the darkness below.

"This is your starting point. Don't go until I tell you. We want all the Genin to start at the same time here in about ten minutes." Their guide spoke up.

Naruto peeked over the edge and did not like what he saw. The canyon was deep! He shuttered a little as he turned around to his teammates who were also taking it all in.

"So we got a few minutes… what's the plan?" Naruto asked trying to take his mind off the deep drop off in front of him. He was a little surprised when he noticed Sasuke had his Sharingan active.

Sakura noticed as well but she caught on quick as she smirked, her new red hood covering her head. "You just mapped out the Spider's Web with your eyes, didn't you?"

Sasuke nodded as the red disappeared from his eyes. "I've been looking at the land from different angles, memorizing the canyon branches as we've walked. I can get us to the center now."

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. As much as he hated to admit it, he was really grateful Sasuke and those red eyes were on his team right now. "I was thinking, once we get inside I'll make a bunch of clones that look like us and send them off everywhere. They can look for the other Genin teams or alert me of any other dangers up the path."

Sasuke smirked a bit. "Sounds good Dobe, and here I thought you were going to be completely useless. Looks like you'll just be MOSTLY useless."

Sakura shook her head as Naruto took the bait.

"Hey asshole! All you're good for is being a glorified map! At least-" Naruto was cut off as Sakura started to wave her hands.

"As much as I'd like to sit here all day and hear you two go at it, can we please stay on task? I think we should stick to the canyon walls instead of going down to the base of the canyon. We'll have an advantage since you," She pointed at Sasuke, "know where we're going and you," she pointed at Naruto, "can have clones run ahead to make sure the trail is safe and that the path is usable. No sense in going to the bottom of the canyon where it's more dangerous."

The two boys nodded right as the Kusa-nin that had been guiding them approached. He reached into his pouch and handed Sasuke an earth scroll.

"You guys are cleared to enter the canyon. Good luck."

Naruto immediately crossed his fingers and created 12 copies of each member of Team 7.

"Alright you guys, go down that rope and find some place to travel along the canyon wall. If you run into a dead end or other dangers, dispel yourself to let me and the others know."

One by one, teams of Narutos, Sasukes, and Sakuras started to go down the rope leading the way. The last one to go down was a Sasuke clone who turned and spoke to Naruto before descending.

"You know boss, you're a real dick for making me look like this emo duck haired prick." he said pointing over to the real Sasuke.

Naruto grinned. "I know, sorry I did that to you. I can only imagine how awful it has to be to look like him and not me, what with me being so handsome-"

"-and strong!" The clone finished for him.

Sasuke let out an irritated grunt. The clone got the hint and started his decent. The actual team waited a minute, giving the clones time to get out ahead of them.

"Alright I'll go down first." Sasuke grabbed onto the rope and started to work his way down with Naruto and Sakura following after him. The going was slow for the most part. As they worked their way down, they had their feet pressed against the canyon wall. Every time they slid their foot down, the soil came lose and created a mini cascade of dirt and pebbles below. Sasuke got the worst of it being at the bottom of the team, but he didn't complain.

"Geez, sorry you guys. I'm not meaning to dust you so bad. This dirt is just so loose. No wonder the proctor told us we wouldn't be able to stick to the canyon walls with our chakra." Sakura spoke.

Naruto squinted as some dirt fell on top of his head from Sakura above. "It's ok. I'm more worried about… other things." He said as he looked down, the bottom of the canyon floor looking small from his current height.

"What Dobe? You're not scared are you?" Sasuke said, taking advantage of the moment.

In response, Naruto's foot 'accidently' kicked loose more dirt than usual onto Sasuke's face.

"Oops sorry Teme. I must have slipped." Naruto said grinning down at the Uchiha below him.

"Let's stop messing around." Sasuke said as he shook his head to get the dirt out of his hair. "We're coming upon our first trail." Sasuke had descended right next to what looked like a decent enough trail running along the cliff wall for as far as he could see. He was about to step onto it when Naruto shook his head.

"We shouldn't use this one. A few of my clones tried and the trail broke out from under them about a quarter mile away. Go down a little further and you'll find another trail. It's narrower but so far none of my clones have died on it."

Sasuke nodded as he started to descend again. It wasn't too long until he came upon a very small ledge in the rock that ran out along the cliff wall as far as he could see. There was only about a foot of ledge to walk on, and it did not look promising from a structural standpoint. He raised an eyebrow as he looked back up at Naruto, who was studying the small outcropping.

"Well?" Sasuke finally asked.

"Yeah that's it. Man, it sure looks like shit in person doesn't it? Oh well I guess. My clones that started on this trail haven't run into any problems yet so… I guess we should use it?" Naruto said, uncertainty in his voice.

"You guess?! Well… that's not very reassuring…" Sakura muttered from above.

Sasuke slowly took his feet off the cliff wall and lowered them onto the trail. It took him a second to find his balance and stop wobbling, but eventually he let go of the rope. There wasn't enough room to walk normally, so he pressed his back against the wall and shuffled sideways, the front of his feet inches away from a sheer drop.

Naruto and Sakura followed behind, and soon enough all of Team 7 were slowly shuffling towards their destination. The team didn't stop until Naruto had near fatal slip up when he almost rolled his ankle on a rock on the trail. Sasuke had been quick to grab onto his shoulder and pull him back in against the wall.

"PAY ATTENTION DOBE!" Sasuke scolded breathing hard.

"I'm sorry ok! I was just a little distracted by… well all of this." He responded, pointing towards the canyon floor.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted as he reached into his pouch and dug around for a bit. It was hard for Naruto and Sakura to see what he was doing since they couldn't lean forward to peer over his shoulder. Soon enough, Sasuke twisted his torso back around and reached to the side handing Naruto two kunai with separate lengths of wire attached to each handle.

"Both of you tie the wire to your belts. If you fall, throw the kunai to me. If you can't do that, then throw the kunai into the cliff and pray that the rock in that spot is strong enough to hold you. It's not much security, but it's better than nothing."

Naruto nodded as he took the kunai, handing one to Sakura on his other side. Both tied the end of the wire to themselves and tucked the kunai with the extra wire into their weapons pouch. When he saw that Sakura was done, Naruto turned and nodded to Sasuke. "Thanks."

"Hn." Sasuke replied as he started to scoot along the trail again, a light breeze kicking up to make him hug the canyon wall a little tighter.

* * *

 _A few hours later_

Kurotsuchi jumped from tree to tree as the swarm of beetles followed her. The swarm moved as a giant black mass, reaching out like a giant hand trying to grab her. She responded by weaving some hand signs and peppering the mass with Lyme shots.

It wasn't long into the test when Kurotsuchi and her team had stumbled upon a Konoha team traveling along the canyon floor. They had a moment to watch and study them to figure out their team dynamics. She had picked to fight what she figured to be the leader of this little Konoha squad. Given the boys appearance, she thought it wouldn't be a challenge at all, what with him looking like a nerd with his tall collar, goofy hair, and dark sunglasses.

Boy was she wrong.

She thought her and her team had the jump on them. Turns out, they had known they were being followed all along. Probably because of the puppy with the loud mouthed boy on their team.

Like a scene from a horror book, she had stopped short of her attack when the nerdy boy in front of her raised his arms and a swarm of insects poured out of his sleeves. She had heard of the Aburame clan before but this was her first time seeing one of their clan members in action. To say it was unsettling was an understatement.

Every time one of her Lyme shots made a dent in the mass, it seemed like it was immediately filled in with other insects. Lyme wasn't going to stop them sooo…. It was time for more drastic measures. She reached into her pouch and threw a kunai with an explosive tag attached into the middle of the swarm. When the kunai had reached the perfect spot, she put her fingers together making it detonate.

Most of the mass was either killed or stunned by the shockwave. What was once a massive swarm was now struggling to stay in form, much to her delight. She didn't have long to celebrate as she felt herself get punched from behind, reminding her that she was still fighting the boy.

"You were unwise to take your eyes off me." The boy simply stated as he pressed the attack, another swarm of bugs emptying out of his sleeves.

Kurotsuchi sighed. Today was going to be a long day.

* * *

Akatsuchi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as he approached the small girl. He certainly had no love for Konoha or their ninja, but he was a gentle giant at heart. Using his size to beat up this little Konoha Genin just felt wrong. He was hoping he could talk some sense into her.

Her gentle frame quivered as he approached.

"D-d-d-don't' come any c-c-closer." She said as she took a step back getting into a weird fighting stance.

Damn, she even had a stutter. Now he felt really bad.

"Listen, I don't want to fight you. Just give us your scroll and we'll be on our way." He tried to reason with her. "Which one of you three have it?"

She continued to shake but stood in place defiantly against him.

He sighed. "Listen, you know you can't beat me right? I mean look at us!" He said motioning to their size difference with his hands. "There's no shame in knowing when you're in over your head. Just give me the scroll and me and my team will leave you alone. Please don't try and fight me."

She shook her head. "No, I-I-I w-w-won't betray my t-t-team. "

He started to walk towards her, his shadow eventually covering her completely. "Well I guess I got to do what I got to do or else Kurotsuchi will scold me. Now then, I'm going to-" He stopped short he noticed something funny about her eyes. They were very pale and the veins around them were expanded under the skin. His own eyes went wide as he realized what technique he was looking at.

"Oh Shit."

She hit him in the stomach with her palm and it felt like his insides were turned into butter.

* * *

Kiba felt his pocket again to make sure the scroll was still there as he fled the area. Shino had told him to run and hide with the scroll until he and Hinata caught up to him later. It made sense, Kiba was the fastest of the three and all of them were excellent trackers. It would be no problem for them to find each other later on when Shino and Hinata fled their fights.

What Kiba hadn't counted on, was looking to his side and seeing a girl with a cat on her shoulder leaping from branch to branch almost right next to him.

"Where are we going?" she asked him with a smile, the speed of their travel not seeming like a problem for her at all.

He growled as he came to a stop on the next branch, her stopping at the end of the branch he was standing on. He felt Akamaru climb out of his jacket and watched as the pup landed on the branch in front of him, growling as the canine eyed the cat on the girl's shoulder. The cat for its part, seemed mostly uninterested as it licked its front paw.

"WE aren't going anywhere. I'M going to knock you out of this tree and then leave you in the dust." He grinned confidently at her. "Unless you have your team's scroll. If that's the case, then I'm going to take your scroll and then leave you in the dust."

She gave him a slight pout. "That's not very nice. I was just trying to be friendly."

Kiba was… confused. "Uhhh yeah. We're not on the same team last time I checked."

"I know but… I don't have a lot of friends." She stood up putting her hands out in front of her shyly. "I don't have the scroll and I don't believe you have the scroll. Aren't you just running away to throw my team off?"

"It looks like you figured me out." Kiba lied with a grin. "I was hoping your team would all try following me."

She shrugged. "I guess I was the only one gullible enough. My name is Tamaki by the way. What's yours?"

This was not how Kiba expected his first fight in the Chunin exams to go. "Uhh…. Kiba… my name is Kiba." Why did he even tell her that?!

She smiled at him, as she started to play with a strand of her long brown hair. "Kiba that's a really cool name." She took a few steps forward.

He growled as he got into a fighting position. "Don't come any closer!"

She stopped suddenly. "Sorry, I didn't realize I was putting you on edge. I just wanted to get a better look at you. You're kind of…. cute." She said, her cheeks turning pink.

Kiba's jaw nearly hit the ground. Was this girl blushing? At him?! He then started to take notice himself. She was kind of good looking with her rich brown eyes and silky brown hair... He shook his head as he felt his cheeks warm up. _Now I'M blushing?! What's the matter with me!_

She looked a little worried. "I'm sorry, am I making you uncomfortable?"

"NO!" He said a little too quickly. "I'm just fine!"

"Oh... ok." She smiled as she leaned down and took a look at Akamaru. "I just LOVE your puppy! He's so cute!" She reached out to pet him but suddenly the cat jumped from her shoulder, hissed at Akamaru, and then promptly fled as Akamaru pursued it, barking along the way.

She stood up giggling with her hand over her mouth. "Sorry about that. Momo can get a little jealous sometimes."

For the first time since he had landed on this branch, Kiba started to relax a little as he let out a little chuckle getting out of his fighting stance and putting his hand in his hair. "It's fine, Akamaru gets that way too if I pet other animals." Maybe this girl really was trying to make new friends? It also helped that she thought he was cute while being really attractive herself.

Whatever she was about to say in response was cut short as the canyon wind suddenly picked up and started to shake their branch. She, being out on the end of the branch, was subjected to much more wiggling. It looked like she was about to lose her balance, arms waving frantically in the air.

Almost on instinct, Kiba rushed forward and caught her arm, pulling her back on top of the branch. She collided into him, her face in his chest as she gripped the front of his jacket.

"Thank you Kiba… I thought I was going over for sure." She said as she looked up at him. Kiba was very aware how close their faces were at this point as he blushed openly back down at her, entranced by her eyes.

"Uhhh no problem Tamaki." He said trying to give her a confident grin. He noticed that she wasn't moving away from him. Good. Her arms started to slide down off of his chest onto his sides as she started giggling again.

"I feel like I'm in some forbidden romance book, you a boy from Konoha, and me a girl from Iwagakure… I like it…"

Was her face starting to get closer?

He put his arms around her. He had never believed in love at first sight but damn was he wrong. "Well, when you put it like that I kind of like the idea of a forbidden romance too…" He started to lean in slightly closer, their lips inches away.

She looked stricken with him. "Oh Kiba! There's… just… one… little… problem…" Suddenly the innocent smile disappeared as she gave him a mischievous grin as she held up a white scroll for him to see. "Cats and dogs don't get along."

Kiba's eyes went wide as he recognized the Heaven scroll from his pocket. "Wait! that's my-" Kiba felt himself get shoved as he fell, crashing through the branches below until he hit the ground. He landed on his back with a hard 'THUD' as he felt the air nearly get knocked out of him. He wheezed, having been completely unprepared for that.

She crouched on the branch looking down at him shaking her head. "That was way too easy."

He glared back up at her, as he slowly tried to get up onto his feet. "You BITCH!"

"Hey don't call me that! It was nothing personal. If it's any consolation…", She glanced to her left as Momo returned and jumped up on her shoulder, "… I really do think you're cute." She gave him a wink. "See you around!" With that, she took off back towards her team.

Kiba laid back down to regain his lost breath. Despite just losing their only way of advancing further in the exams, he let himself have a small smile.

"She thinks I'm cute."

* * *

Naruto danced a little as Team 7 continued to shuffle along the trail. "Guys, is this a bad time to let you know I need to use the bathroom?"

Sasuke and Sakura both groaned.

Naruto looked back and forth but no one actually said anything. "Sooo…. can I?"

"NO!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto was about to complain more when a thought popped into his mind. A Huge smile spread across his face. "Guys, we're in luck! The trail widens out and there's a surprise waiting for us!"

Sasuke stopped and looked at him. "What surprise?"

"Uhhh… just wait and see ok?" The Blonde responded.

Sasuke looked at him for a while, studying him. It got to the point that Naruto was starting to become uncomfortable.

Finally, Sasuke spoke up, choosing his words carefully. "Naruto… you know we are on our own in this exam right? If we run into any other teams, we need to treat them like the enemy, even if they are from Konoha."

Naruto frowned a little. "Come on Sasuke… lighten up a little."

"I'm just letting you know where I stand." Sasuke said bluntly. "We aren't here to hang out or make friends."

"I… ugh fine, let's talk about this later ok?" Naruto said trying to dodge the subject but being unable to move where he was stuck between Sasuke and Sakura on the narrow cliffside trail.

Sasuke briefly considered pressing him with more questions but decided to let it drop. Even Naruto understood that they had to look out for themselves… right?

Just as Naruto said, the trail soon widened out so that the team didn't have to hug the wall anymore. In fact, there was enough room for all three of them to comfortably walk side by side. All three Genin stretched their limbs, feeling grateful that they didn't have to stare death in the face as they walked anymore. As they started walking again, Sakura spoke up in a cheerful voice.

"You know, all things considered this is going really well. At this pace we'll reach the-" She stopped talking as she noticed a few ninja up on the trail ahead of them. Naruto's smile widened while Sasuke's frown deepened. The Uchiha rounded on his teammate.

"What did I say Naruto?!" he spoke clearly frustrated with the Blond.

"Relax Sasuke, they are in a pickle like we will be in a second. We can help each other out!" Naruto tried to bargain with him.

"Will be? What do you know that you aren't telling us?!" Sasuke dug deeper.

At this point Sakura was really confused. "Ummm what's going on? Who's up there?"

Sasuke turned his gaze towards her. "I'll give you one guess. She has blonde hair and is Naruto's new girl-"

"She is NOT my girlfriend!" Naruto cut him off.

Sakura finally understood. "That's Team 10 down there? That's not such a bad thing… Maybe there's safety in numbers?"

Sasuke shook his head. "You both are…. Ugh… whatever…" he said giving up, putting his hands in his pockets and walking further up the trail without another word to his teammates.

"What's his problem?" Naruto whispered to Sakura as they walked together behind the Uchiha.

"He's frustrated because you withheld information from the team." She actually gave him a small scolding look. "I can't help but wonder myself if you only choose this way because you found Ino up there."

Naruto waved his hands out in front of him, feeling slightly guilty. "No, no, no. I didn't know Ino was on this trail until just a few minutes ago. Honest."

Sakura eyed him from under her hood for a moment before smiling again. "Ok. I believe you. Just try to keep us in the loop ok?"

He nodded as they all finally approached Team 10, whom were waiting for them. In the middle stood Ino with a big smile on her face.

"Fancy meeting you lot here. I'm glad you didn't keep us waiting long. I was wondering how long we'd be waiting here after Naruto's clone disappeared."

Surprisingly, it was Sasuke who responded first, although not to Ino. The Uchiha glanced at Shikamaru with a smirk.

"You better be ready for a fight if you even think about touching me with your shadow."

The others were confused until they looked down and saw a thin thread of shadow extending out from Shikamaru. The shadow threaded its way around some rocks, using their shade to extend its reach. The end of it almost connected with Sasuke's own shadow.

Shikamaru smiled as he brought it back in. "Just taking precautions you know? I figured the first thing a guy like you would do is try and take our scroll."

"Hn. Just count yourself lucky I guess." As Sasuke strolled over and leaned against the cliff wall, separating himself from the group slightly.

Naruto shook his head. "Don't mind him, he's just being moody."

"I'd be moody too if I had to hang out with you and forehead all day." Ino smirked. "By the way, the hood looks good on you Sakura. It covers up that forehead a little and makes you look like a badass."

Choji nodded in agreement. "Yeah it really does!" As he reached into his pouch and opened a small bag of chips.

Sakura blushed. "Thank you, I guess I needed it now that I don't have any bangs to cover my forehead huh?"

Nobody laughed and an incredibly awkward silence was thick in the air.

Finally, Sakura giggled. "Loosen up you guys, I'm just kidding. I really love the hood. I might keep wearing it after my hair grows back."

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

Sasuke had his arms crossed and thrummed his fingers on his arm impatiently. "Not that I wouldn't love to just sit here all day and listen to you guys chat, but I think it's time we go our separate ways. This is supposed to be an exam after all."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Yeah? And which way do you intend on going?"

The canyon ahead of them forked. They could either stay on their current trail hugging the canyon wall and go to the right, or they could try and lower themselves down onto the canyon floor and take the fork to the left.

Sasuke just shook his head. "I bet you'd like to know Nara."

Shikamaru sighed and just took a seat on a nearby boulder. "Let me guess, you guys are going to try to get to the canyon floor and take the left fork because it's the quickest way to the center right?"

Sasuke was a little caught off guard. "Maybe…"

"I wouldn't recommend it." Shikamaru shrugged.

Sasuke furrowed his brows. It was obvious the Nara knew something so there was no point in holding back anymore. "Yeah that was the plan. I memorized the layout of the canyons with my Sharingan. That route is the quickest way to the center."

Shikamaru shook his head. "Yeah it would be if it was passable. Did you notice that it happened to be a low point in the terrain and that the soil is much darker over there?"

Sasuke just opened and then closed his mouth, not responding.

"Figures." Shikamaru pressed on. "The soil is dark because it's so wet over there. I'd bet you all the money I have that most of that fork will be some sort of impassable river. You'll be wasting your time."

Sasuke glared at him. "Yeah? And which way do you plan on going then?"

"Easy, we're going to take the next two rights, and then a left. That should put us at the finish line in no time."

Sasuke thought for a moment, studying out the terrain in his mind. The images he memorized with his Sharingan were almost like looking at a mental painting. Mentally, he followed Shikamaru's proposed route and found that it would indeed end up at the center of the canyons.

"Ok, how in the hell do you know that?!" Sasuke questioned.

Shikamaru put his hands behind his head and laid down against the boulder, closing his eyes. "I memorized it when we had a top view from the ridge."

Now it was Naruto's turn to step in. "No way! That's impossible. This place is a freaking maze!"

He felt an arm snake over his shoulders as Ino came up to his side grinning ear to ear. "Tsk tsk Naruto, underestimating us again? Do I need to remind you which team was the first to finish the last test?" She gloated. "Mr. Nara here has a pretty sharp mind. We don't need a Sharingan to get stuff done, huh Shikamaru?"

No response.

"I said, huh Shikamaru?" Ino asked again after a few seconds.

This time the only response she got was a soft snore from the Nara.

"Damn it, wake up!" Ino shouted as she stepped forward and kicked him in the shin. "You're making us look bad."

"Ok ok geez I'm awake!" Shikamaru grumbled as he sat back up. "What a drag."

Sasuke didn't know how to feel. On one hand, he was relieved that he and his team didn't waste a whole bunch of time crossing the canyon to take the left fork. On the other, he and his Sharingan just got showed up by what he considered to be one of the most untalented Genin he graduated with. That got on his nerves.

"Alright then, if you know where you're going, why do you need our help?" Sasuke said thinking back on what Naruto had said earlier of them being in a pickle.

Shikamaru got back to his feet and cracked his back. "Follow me." He waved them forward as he lead them further up the trail. After weaving in and out of the cliffside, the group came upon a gap in the trail.

A very large gap.

Shikamaru turned back towards Team 7. "It's best for us to stay up on a canyon wall trail for as long as possible. I think if we work together, we can find a way to cross."

"I don't know Shikamaru, that's a pretty big gap." Choji said as he nervously looked over the edge where the trail ended. It was a long way down. "I don't think any of us can jump that far, at least I know I can't."

"I agree, but I have a different idea." Shikamaru turned towards Naruto. "Can you make a clone and we'll see if we can get him across with Choji's help?"

"Sure!" Naruto said as he crossed his fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A solid clone 'popped' into existence next to him.

"Alright let's clear the way so he can get a running start." Shikamaru waved everyone back so that the clone had a clear lane to Choji. "Choji, you're physically the strongest one here. Put everything you got into boosting him across the gap."

"Right!" Choji nodded as he put his chips away. He crouched down by the edge of the gap, cupping his hands on top of one another to give the clone a place to step and be launched.

Naruto's clone sprinted forward as fast as he could. Right as he neared the edge, he lifted his foot a little higher and stepped into Choji's palm. The clone jumped off of the hand as hard as he could. At the same time, Choji put all of his strength into hurling the clone across the gap.

The clone sailed through the air, much higher than anyone was expecting. For a brief moment, it looked like he was going to clear the gap…

Until he didn't.

The clone screamed as he fell, just falling short of the other side by about 20 feet. Everyone got a lump in their throat as the clones dispelled before it could tumble all of the way to the canyon floor.

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head with a nervous grin. "Man, I'm sure glad we practiced with a clone. Maybe we should-"

"I can do it."

Everyone turned to the Uchiha as he cut Shikamaru off. He was gazing intensely at the other side, working something out in his brain.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Sakura spoke up, trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Sasuke smirked. "I have a trick I'd like to try. Besides, I probably won't have to use it. I can jump farther than the Dobe's clone."

"First off Teme, you can't jump farther than me. Second, don't be dumb. You're going to get yourself killed." Naruto said a little irritated at his friend.

"Yeah, I agree with Naruto. It's too risky." Sakura said, backing the Blond up.

"Hn, you guys can worry all you want. I'm going to get us across the gap." Sasuke replied as he stepped out and prepared to run towards Choji. "You ready to throw me?"

Choji looked at the others nervously. "I… uhhh…."

"I'm going to start running now. If you don't throw me, I'll for sure die." Sasuke said, giving Choji an ultimatum.

Ino raised an eyebrow as she turned to Naruto. "He's not serious right? I mean, Sasuke can pretty much do almost anything, but this really isn't a good idea."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, he's just bluffing to look cool since Shikamaru showed him up earlier. He's not stupid enough to-"

Sasuke started to sprint forward.

"Fuck!" Naruto shouted as he attempted to lurch forward and grab the Uchiha. His fingertips barely touched the back of Sasuke's shirt as he ran by. "Shikamaru stop him!"

Shikamaru tried to use his shadow but he was too late. The Uchiha was too fast.

"Oh no, no, no, NO!" Choji started to panic as he crouched down again and got his hands ready. "Please Sasuke don't!"

Sasuke stepped onto Choji's palms and leapt as Choji threw him.

The Uchiha sailed through the air, higher than the clone had. Sasuke closed his eyes for a second, enjoying the moment as the adrenaline pumped through him. There was nothing below him except for open air showing the canyon floor far below.

The rush was exhilarating.

As he came down, he realized that he wasn't going to make the gap. Thinking fast, he put his plan into motion. He reached into his pouch and threw half a dozen Kunai with wire attached into the trail in front of him. Before he could fall below the ledge, he jerked on the wire and propelled himself forward. He barely made the landing with the tips of his toes, falling forward onto his hands and knees.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

His heart beat loudly in his ears as he stood and turned back, looking at the Genin on the other side. He pulled out a scroll and summoned a long length of wire attached to a Fuma Shuriken. He spun the weapon in his hand and then threw it to the other side like a Frisbee. He grabbed onto his end of the wire as he watched the spool unraveled. He briefly wondered if it would be long enough.

Just as the wire was about to run out, Naruto was able to catch the Shuriken on the other side. Sasuke smirked as he started to tie his end of the wire around a large rock.

The Dobe wasn't going to hear the end of this one.

* * *

Karui was at her wits end. The first half of the day was spent making their way down a rope to the bottom of the canyon. They had traveled so slow because Omoi was afraid of heights and had bitched about it the whole way down. She had nearly let go of the rope and let herself fall to her death, if only to escape having to hear him talk anymore.

From there they had traveled along the canyon floor, using foliage as cover. They had stumbled onto a few teams, but Hano refused to ambush them and take their scrolls. Instead, he stayed hidden focusing on his one and only goal at the moment.

Find Gaara or Naruto.

Karui had tried to reason with him, but Hano had been stubborn. He reassured her that they'd find a scroll as soon as he dealt with the two Jinchuriki, but it sounded like an empty promise. Passing this test would be hard enough as it is without hunting the two boys.

Right as Karui was about to start another argument with Hano, he had quickly shushed her. He pointed up at the canyon wall and she noticed some movement. Way far up there was some Genin walking along a canyon trail. As Karui looked closer, she noticed that there were several sets of what looked like the same team trying out different routes and trails along the cliff face. Hano reached into his pouch and brought out a spotting scope to get a closer look.

"Well?" Karui said after a few seconds.

"Uzumaki is up there, although it looks like he is using some clones. I can't tell which is the real team." Hano replied, not putting his scope down.

"Damn well that's a shame. We aren't going to try and go up there right?" Omoi asked, secretly hoping they wouldn't.

Hano shook his head.

"Well…" Karui spoke up, "maybe we should continue on then. They are too far up for us to do anything to them so we might as well go looking for Gaara or preferably find another team and take their scroll."

Again Hano shook his head. "No, we're going follow them from down here and wait for an opportunity to present itself."

Karui sighed a little frustrated with her teammate. "Hano, come on man. We don't really even know if he or Gaara are Jinchuriki. Let's focus on passing the test huh?"

Hano put the scope down and turned to look at her. "They are Jinchuriki, I just know it. If we have an opportunity to take out a Jinchuriki from a different village, we need to do it. That's far more valuable to the Raikage than us passing this exam."

"So you're willing to fail this test if it means taking out Naruto or Gaara?" Karui questioned.

"Yeah I am." Hano replied with no hesitation as he put up the scope again to survey the Cliffside.

* * *

It took a while, but finally Team 7 and Team 10 got a few strands of wiring secured across the gap in the trail. In order to ensure that it'd work, Naruto had a clone hang off of them and then shimmy across the makeshift wire bridge with their hands and feet. Everyone let out a sigh of relief with the clone was able to reach the other side without incident.

Sakura was the first one to give it a go after the clone. Again, it went smoothly and she made it across without incident.

Naruto was about to go next, but stopped when Shikamaru put a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you mind if I go next? If all of Team 7 gets over there I'm afraid that your teammate will be tempted to cut the wire and leave us stranded on the other side."

"Sasuke wouldn't do that…" Naruto tried to reply confidently. Although, the more he thought about it, the more Shikamaru's point made sense. That did seem like something Sasuke might do. "Oh ok fine! Go ahead."

"Thanks", Shikamaru muttered as he grabbed onto the wire, hanging upside down on it. He looked down for a moment before going pale and shaking his head. "Man what a drag."

Ino started to laugh. "You look like a sloth. How fitting."

Shikamaru muttered something inaudible as he slowly made his way across the gap. A few minutes later, he was standing on the other side.

"Choji why don't you go next?" Ino suggested.

"You'll hold onto the wire right? I'm a little heavier than all of you so the wire might-"

Ino put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. We'll stay right and be ready to help you if something happens."

Choji nodded as he got down and started to make his way across. He was going a lot slower than the others.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he and Ino stood alone while Choji crossed the gap. He had had a lot of fun last night but didn't know what to say now that they were alone. Lucky for him, Ino took the initiative.

"So Whiskers, I'm glad you made it back to your place last night. I was worried you might have run into that Kusa-nin again."

Naruto chuckled. "You were worried about me huh? Do you often think about me when you're about to go to bed?"

Ino was slightly taken aback. Did Naruto just flirt with her? "Yeah, I have a real problem with nightmares about idiots. My dad said I should see a psychologist about it." She teased.

"Oh ha ha" Naruto responded sarcastically. "Thanks again for helping us out. This worked out well."

"No problem. I'd thank you but I should save that for Sasuke. He did all the work for your team." She baited him.

Naruto turned on her. "Hey! What am I chopped liver? My clones tested all the-" He stopped shouting when he noticed her shoulders shaking up and down as she tried to contain a laugh. He lowered is volume. "Oh… You're just messing with me again aren't you?"

"You make it so easy." She said as she flashed him a smile.

He felt his cheeks warm up so he suddenly turned his head. He did NOT need Ino to see him blushing.

"So Whiskers, when we get through this part of the exams, what's our next adventure?"

"Hmmm?" Naruto responded as he turned back towards her. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about when we get back to Konoha. What's our next adventure? You know, besides me kicking your ass in a tie breaker match?"

"You want to hang out with me?" Naruto blurted out before his brain could stop him.

"Well yeah, I had fun yesterday. Didn't you?" Ino asked a little puzzled.

Naruto waved his hands in front of him. "Oh yeah for sure! I had a lot of fun! I just thought we were hanging out because you needed me to help you get one of Sakura's dresses?"

"Yeah I did need you for that, but that wasn't the ONLY reason." Ino responded.

Naruto smiled. There weren't many people in the world that treated him kindly, so this felt good.

"Well there's a whole bunch of stuff I can show you around the village, but first thing we need to do is paint one of the faces on the Hokage monument. You haven't lived until you paint a mustache onto the Sandaime."

Ino face palmed. "I am NOT doing that! Maybe I should plan the next adventure."

Naruto rubbed the back of his head, still happy at how things were going. "Alright, sounds good to me. Don't forget you still owe me some homemade cookies from me winning our last match."

Ino's eyebrow twitched. "I remember yes…"

"It was the match when I beat you in under 5 seconds!"

"I told you I remember-"

"By using a simple transformation jutsu. I didn't have to even lay a finger on you!"

Right as Ino was going to threaten to toss him off the cliff, Choji made it safely to the other side. "Your turn Whiskers. If you fall just remember to land on your head. I'm sure it's hard enough to take the impact."

Naruto laughed as he got down and started hanging off of the wire. "Well, see you on the other side?"

"See you on the other side." Ino confirmed. "Hurry though, the sun is about to go down. I don't want to cross this thing in the dark."

* * *

Hano, Karui, and Omoi spent the next few hours tracking Naruto as he moved along the cliffs edge. It was easy to keep up with them. They could move faster along the ground than Team 7 could up on the canyon wall. They just had to be sure to look out for other dangers like other Genin squads or the 'local wildlife' the proctor had told them about. Already they had to sneak by a group of angry looking Baboons.

Karui shook her head. Baboons living at the bottom of this canyon. Who would have thought?

It was late in the afternoon when Hano noticed that Naruto's team had met up with another team from Konoha. They seemed to be stuck, as there was a large gap in their trail above. Hano gave his team a rare grin.

"This is going to be our moment." He said as he took off his gear and stretched. He stood his quiver up vertically by him and took out an arrow. Reaching into his belt pouch, he took out a vial of green liquid and poured a few drops onto the arrowhead. He waited a moment for the poison to dry before moving it to get his bow ready.

Karui looked up where Naruto was, then down to Hano, and then back up to Naruto. "What exactly do you hope to do from here?"

"They're going to try and figure out a way to cross that gap." Almost as if Hano was prophetic, Karui and Omoi saw a small orange dot try to get across the gap before falling and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Ok but you still didn't answer my question. What are you going to do from here?"

"I'm going to shoot Naruto out of the sky."

Kauri locked eyes with Omoi and both of Hano's teammates started to laugh at once. Hano frowned a little.

Karui finally got a hold of herself enough to speak. "You know this is an impossible shot right?"

Hano ignored her as he stretched out his arms, warming them up.

"Hano, are you listening? We're wasting time again. It's too far of a shot, the wind is blowing slightly and we're at a bad angle. Even if you could get an arrow that far, you'd have to time it just right with his movements since there would be a delay. " Karui continued on.

Hano picked up his scope again, observing the cliff as a Blue dot made it across the gap.

"Hano, I think Karui has a point. There's no way you'll make that shot. What if instead, your arrow hits a loose piece of rock? Then that rock trigger a canyon collapse with us-"

Omoi was shut up when Karui smacked him on the back of the head. "NO! I do not have the patience to deal with your delusional train of thought right now!" She looked up when she heard Hano start to chuckle.

"Looks like they found a way across. They're using a wire."

Karui looked up and saw a red dot slowly moving through the open air. At this distance, it would be impossible to see a wire without a spotting scope.

They watched a couple of dots cross before Hano lowered the scope and handed it to Omoi. Hano then picked up a tiny piece of dirt and tossed it to see which way and how fast the dust particles moved with the wind. Once he had a good idea of the wind direction and speed, he picked up his bow and the poisoned arrow, notching it. He turned to Omoi.

"I want you to tell me the moment Naruto lowers himself down onto the wire."

Karui thought about saying something, but the situation was starting to get serious. Finally, after a full day of stalking these guys, Karui would get to watch some action, even if that meant Hano missing his shot. She held her breath as she looked up, waiting for an orange dot to appear

A few minutes ticked by dreadfully slow before Omoi finally said something.

"There, he's getting ready to get on….. ok he's on the wire!"

Hano took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out. He brought up his bow and aimed it high, pointing upwind of his target. He drew the bow back as far as it would go and held it, his arm having the slightest tremble from the strain. He started to count down.

"10…, 9…, 8…, 7…, 6…, 5…, 4…, 3…"

Karui's heart was pounding.

"2".

Omoi felt a drop of sweat go down his temple

"1".

Hano released the arrow.

* * *

Sasuke stood there and watched Naruto crossing the wire. This whole thing was taking way too long. The sooner they all got across, the sooner the two teams would be able to split up. He did not want to pal around with Team 10 for the rest of this test.

Naruto was about halfway across when Sasuke noticed movement out of the corner of his eye from the ground below. He was so zoned out that at first he thought it was a bird. He ignored it until the speck started to get closer and closer. He squinted to look at it, but it was hard to make out what it was in the dusk light. Whatever it was, it was moving quickly towards… Sasuke's eyes went wide. "NARU-"

An arrow pierced through Naruto's back, the front arrowhead protruding out of his chest through the right lung. Naruto immediately coughed up blood as he lost his grip with his hands and was left dangling by his legs. He clutched the arrow shaft, letting out quick hallow gasps instead of screaming.

Sasuke felt his heart stop as everyone else around him was left in a stupor of shock. Then Naruto lost grip with his legs and started to fall.

"NARUTO THROW ME YOUR KUNAI!" Sasuke screamed at the top of his lungs as he jumped down and dangled himself off of the ledge, one hand holding him in place, the other outstretched towards Naruto.

He watched as Naruto took a half a second to pull out the kunai with the wire tied around his waist and throw it towards Sasuke.

Sasuke stretched out as far as he could. The throw was a little low, but Damn it he was going to catch that kunai, even if it meant letting the thing pierce his hand. The kunai moved towards him in slow motion. Sasuke opened his hand wide, prepared to snatch the little metal tool.

But then the wire line ran out.

Right as the tip of the kunai was about to touch Sasuke's fingertips, it pulled away, jerked down by Naruto's fall. Before Sasuke could decide what to do next, he saw a purple blur moving in the corner of his eyes. He glanced up long enough to see Ino running hap hazardously across the wire. She crouched down and jumped, using the wire like a spring board to propel herself forward. About twenty feet below Sasuke, she collided with the canyon wall as she caught Naruto's kunai. As she skidded down, she brought out a kunai in her other hand and dug it deep into the rock, using it and the chakra in her feet to slow their decent. She managed to actually come to a stop as she strained from holding Naruto's weight in one hand while trying to keep them clinging to the rock with her other limbs.

Naruto coughed up more blood as his body was suddenly jerked to a stop.

Sasuke was frantic. "HOLD ON INO I'LL-" Sasuke felt a hand grab his arm and jerk him back up onto the ledge.

* * *

"Holy shit she caught him!" exclaimed Omoi as he observed the scene through the spotting scope.

Karui was baffled. "I can't believe it. I can't believe you actually hit him.

Hano shook his head, not one to gloat. "It's not over yet. I didn't think anyone would catch him. Omoi, how far down is the girl below the ledge?"

"I don't know maybe… 30 feet? 35?" Omoi estimated.

Hano nodded. That was all the information he needed. He grabbed three arrows and notched all of them, explosive tags tightly wrapped around the end of each shaft.

* * *

Sasuke turned to see that Shikamaru was the one who pulled him up. Before Sasuke could yell at him, the Nara started talking.

"We'll take care of them, you need to deal with other arrows. You're the only one who will be able to knock them out of the air! Now MOVE!"

To Sasuke's surprise, the Nara pulled him out of the way. Shikamaru put his hands in the Rat sign and his shadow snaked down the cliff, weak in the dwindling light. It barely managed to reach and connect with Naruto's shadow.

Shikamaru cringed at what came next as he took control of Naruto's body. Shikamaru reached out with his hands and clutched the open air in front of him. This resulted in Naruto reaching his hands out and weakly clinging to the cliff wall, taking some of the weight off of Ino. Now Naruto was screaming or at least trying to with a punctured lung.

Quickly, Choji started to lower Sakura over the ledge, belaying her with some wire.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan as he turned to face the open canyon, grabbing handfuls of shuriken out of his pouch. Sure enough, he saw three small objects heading their way from the ground below. To hit three small fast objects like arrows out of open air in dim light would be a challenge, even with the Sharingan. He gritted his teeth as he tracked them.

If someone were staring at him, they would have noticed a second tomoe appear on his eyes.

Sasuke launched a handful of Shuriken and was pleased when all three arrows were stopped in their tracks, being severed in two. His victory was short lived as three of the pieces exploded during their decent.

The explosion itself wasn't close enough to cause Ino direct harm, but the vibrations agaist the cliff from the shockwave caused the soil around her kunai and feet to come loose as she slid down another 10 feet before coming to a stop again. She let out a pained scream as her hand grasped tightly to the kunai holding Naruto up, her muscles screaming at her to let go.

* * *

"What happened?!" Said Hano, a slight frown on his face as he saw minimal damage from his arrows.

"The Uchiha got your arrows before they could hit Naruto." Omoi replied, still spotting through the scope for Hano.

"Shit!" Hano swore. "We need to move soon. Those explosions just gave away our position. I'm going to take one last shot and then we need to run." Hano jammed 9 explosive arrows onto the bow string and pulled back. This next shot wasn't about accuracy; it was about making an impact.

* * *

Sasuke gritted his teeth as he saw the next volley of arrows launch from the ground below. With as dark as it was, the only way he noticed them was because of his Sharingan. He turned towards the others.

"You need to pull them up, NOW!" He started to weave hand signs. "KATON: GOKAKYU NO JUTSU!" Sasuke shouted as he blew the biggest fireball he could at the approaching volley.

Choji felt the wire cut his hands as he lowered Sakura as fast as he could. She was almost there, reaching out towards Ino.

"Shit! Shikamaru shouted as he finally felt his shadow slip, not having enough light to maintain the technique. Without Shikamaru forcing him to cling to the wall, Naruto fell limp putting the increased weight on Ino. Ino closed her eyes and started screaming, her grip starting to slip.

Sakura was inches away from Ino's hand, reaching out. "Just one more second Ino I'm almost there. Don't you let go! Don't you let-"

Ino slipped.

The night sky was lit up as Sasuke's fireball made contact with the arrow volley. The light from the explosion gave Sakura one last look at her two friends as they fell into the dark abyss.

* * *

 **Author notes:**

 **Well there's a longer chapter for you. We're going to be spending some time in the survival test.**

 **A couple of things to address:**

 **1\. I hope you all don't get the impression I hate Kiba. I actually like him, but I can't deny that the guy is an idiot sometimes. I think he is the type to get sweet talked by a cute girl into doing something stupid. Like the Yamcha of Naruto.**

 **2\. I also hope I didn't give the impression that I NERFed Naruto in this story. He'll get his moments to shine. What happened this chapter was the result of Team 7 dropping their guard because they thought they were in a secure place way up high.**

 **3\. You'll notice that I'm not doing the Extra section as much lately with the whole** _ **"Shortly after the 3**_ _ **rd**_ _ **Ninja war"**_ **stuff. I think you all get the idea that something is happening behind the scenes in secret. That won't be a payoff for a long time. We'll still have opportunities to check in on them, but I won't do it at the end of every chapter anymore. Probably like every 3 or 4 chapters we'll have a brief check in on what was going on.**

 **4\. I'm REALLY excited for the next chapter. There are a couple dozen hard key moments I have planned for this story. Next chapter will include one of those pivotal moments.**

 **5\. Also, I think this chapter will put me over 100,000 words. I know compared to some other stories, that may not seem like a lot, but for me it is. Never have I wrote anything remotely this long. Thanks for the support. Your reviews are what inspire me to kick my butt into gear and keep writing. Taking that extra 30 seconds to leave a comment goes a long way in fueling my motivation.**

 **Thanks and see you next time!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Ino was falling and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She had too much momentum now to try stopping her fall with a kunai and chakra again. She had a brief moment of temptation when she thought about letting go of Naruto and trying to save herself. Maybe she could slow her decent long enough to survive? She shook her head, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Ino felt shameful for even entertaining such a thought. No, either they were going to be saved together or not at all.

She didn't know if it was a mercy or curse not to be able to see the approaching ground through the darkness. So many things were passing through her mind at once. Family, regrets, and mostly the fear of her impending death. Oddly though, she felt somewhat pleased with herself. She took some solace in knowing that she died trying to save a fellow comrade and friend. She closed her eyes as she felt her hair whipping in the air, finally accepting the fate to come.

Then she felt something roughly grab her arm.

She opened her eyes in shock as she felt her body get jerked upright. She nearly screamed at the sight that greeted her. Some sort of red glowing demon had grabbed onto her wrist and was now… trying to save her? The demon was digging its feet and free hand into the cliff wall, creating long troughs in the earth as they descended. It was only after her initial shock that Ino realized what or rather 'who' this demon was. Naruto was trying to save her.

How this was happening, she had no idea. Naruto looked possessed. His whole body with coated with a red chakra Ino had never seen before. She shook her head as she focused on the more important thing at hand.

Surviving the fall.

Ino took out a spare kunai and dug it into the cliff wall, trying her best to contribute. She tried to use her feet like Naruto was doing, but the friction was too much. After a few seconds, her shoes wore through and she felt the skin on her feet starting to tear. She removed her feet with a yelp of pain.

How was he doing that with a bare hand and feet?!

They were still falling but their efforts were starting to pay off. Already their momentum had been cut drastically. A few more seconds and they'd-

They hit the ground.

Ino felt a pop in her ankle as it was the first thing to come in contact with the ground. The rest of her body followed suite as she tried to hit the ground with as much surface area as possible to distribute the impact of the fall. Her back hit hard and she felt the wind get knocked out of her. She fought her inner impulses as she struggled to breathe in.

She took a brief moment to do a self-assessment. Her ankle hurt and she was still trying to regain her breathing but all things considered she was fine. She started to let out a school girl giggle of relief as she came up onto her elbows. "Naruto We're-"

She stopped talking now that she finally had a good look at him. The only reason she could still see him in the dark of night was because of the eerie red glow around his body. Standing there, he looked feral, almost animalistic as he panted. Ino actually scooted backwards when he finally turned to face her.

His eyes were red and seemed to be staring at her hungrily, like a wolf looking at a rabbit. Blood coated the front of his chin and chest, which only added to the effect. He reached up and yanked the arrow out of his chest without flinching.

To Ino, Naruto looked… evil. Definitely not the happy blonde idiot she was used to.

Just as quick as it came, the red chakra suddenly vanished. It was harder for Ino to see him now, but she could barely make out the shape of his body in the darkness. She hurry and got up to catch him as he slumped forward.

He felt weak and wet, from the blood loss no doubt. Whatever questions she had about what had just happened would have to wait. She just needed to be glad that somehow Naruto had saved the day. Now, it was her turn to save him.

She flinched as she lifted him up onto her shoulder. Something was definitely wrong with her ankle. She started to limp forward, feeling the canyon wall as she walked. Feeling the blood drip off Naruto only added to the pressure she was already feeling to quicken the pace.

Normally, she would have treated Naruto right then and there. Give their current circumstances however, she felt that the first thing she had to do was move away from that spot. The light show earlier would have attracted wild animals, other Genin, or both.

She said a silent prayer that Naruto would be able to last just a little longer.

She quickened her pace when she heard him groan on her shoulder. She knew she didn't have long, if only she could find a way to find some cover-

She stumbled to the side when the canyon wall suddenly disappeared. Luckily, she didn't drop Naruto. She reached out to regain her bearings. Feeling the surrounding area, she could make out an opening in the rock. It was a narrow opening, but it seemed to go in a ways. Taking her chances, Ino started guiding herself inside.

It was a tight squeeze and more than once she accidently bumped Naruto around as she carried him inside. She cringed every time.

Soon enough, the cave took a turn and widened. Feeling around now, it seemed like she had arrived at some sort of chamber. This would have to be good enough.

She gently put him down on his back onto the ground. Knowing she'd need light for what she was about to do, she reached into her pouch and brought out some survival matches. She struck the match against the wall and looked around the chamber with the small light.

There in the middle of the chamber was a giant nest. Upon closer inspection, she could see that this must have been the den for an animal long ago. There were some old egg shells scattered around the twigs and brush that made up the nest. She thanked her luck as she grabbed a handful of the nest and brought it over by Naruto, lighting it up to get a small fire going. She hoped that her luck would keep holding out and that whatever big bird had lived here wouldn't be coming back anytime soon.

As soon as the small fire became self-sustaining, Ino brought out her small survival medical kit and set out the supplies next to Naruto. Taking a kunai, Ino grabbed onto the front of Naruto's shirt and cut down the cloth, exposing the boy's bare chest.

He was not in good shape. Even in the low light, Ino could see that the whole front of his body was slick with blood. She grabbed some of the clean rags that came with her kit and wiped the blood away from the wound. Once she had a clear view, she poured some white powder out of a packet into the wound. The powder was a wound treatment powder for the field. It was supposed to disinfect the wound and stop bleeding. It must have stung, because as soon as she poured it Naruto let out a small yell of pain. Ino quickly clamped her hand over Naruto's mouth to muffle the sound.

"I'm so sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry!" She frantically whispered as he screamed against her hand. She knew it hurt, but she couldn't let him alert anything outside of the cave to their presence. She needed to calm him down.

"Y-y-you know what we are going to go do when we get back to Konoha?" She said softly to him. It had the desired effect as he seemed to calm down a bit. "We're going to go up and paint every one of those damn faces on the Hokage monument."

She continued talking as she rolled him over to clean up the wound and put the same white powder on the other side of the hole. "Then, you're going to take me out for Ramen to that place you really like. I'm going to pretend not to like it but I will eventually give in once you talk my ear off about it." She set aside some of the bloodied rags and grabbed fresh ones. "I'll take a bite and pretend it's not all that good when secretly I really like it. Of course, I won't tell you that because it's too much fun teasing you."

Again, Ino put her hand over his mouth when she poured the powder in the other side of the wound. For a second time, he screamed against her hand. She continued whispering to him, hoping to distract him if he was conscious enough to understand what she was saying.

"Then we'll go to all those shops that won't serve you and I'll give them a piece of my mind. If you ever thought I was bossy or mean before, you just wait. Those shopkeepers won't know what's coming for them." She removed her hand once she felt him calm down. She took out a roll of bandages and started to wrap it around his body, going under the armpit on one side and up and over the shoulder on the other. She just hoped that she was doing this right.

She laid him back down and took out some plasma pills. She fed him a few, hoping to alleviate some of the blood loss. He was struggling to take deep breaths. His eyes were closed, but from the expression on his face she could tell he was in a lot of pain.

Now that the immediate danger was handled, she turned towards his limbs. After stopping the fall with his hand and feet, she figured they would have been butchered. She was pleasantly surprised when she raised his palm and looked at it closer. Sure, it was definitely beat up and bloodied, but it was still there at least. How it had not been ground into mush puzzled Ino, but she counted it as a blessing.

His feet were in a similar state. His footwear had disintegrated from grinding again the cliff wall, but his feet were relatively ok. Bloodied and cut for sure, but still there. It didn't take her long to perform general cleanup and bandaging of Naruto's hand and feet.

Once finished, she moved around and put his head on her lap as she tried to make him more comfortable. With the limited medical supplies she had, she had done as much as she could for the moment. She silently cursed herself for not having more medical knowledge like Sakura. Maybe she should have done a nursing internship as well?

She caressed his hair as she sought to comfort him. "We're going to go on an actual date you know? Not just one of these things where we go out but pretend it didn't mean anything… you can't die Naruto." She felt tears roll down the sides of her cheeks. "You need to stay alive ok? You still have so much to do. I want to see you become Hokage someday, ok Whiskers?"

The only response she got was him continuing to struggle to breath.

Slowly, she brought her hands up and put them at the sides of his temples. He needed to rest and she thought she knew just the technique to do it. She could enter his mind and sooth him, shutting out some of the pain. She closed her eyes as she focused.

The wall of pain she encountered when she opened up his mind was startling. It was a crippling and unyielding pain. Taking a deep breath, she reached out to the area of his brain that was experiencing the pain. Once there, she began to mold the pain Naruto was experiencing. It was tricky, but she managed to shut his mind off to some of it. It was instant relief to him as she shut out the majority of the pain. On her lap, she felt his breaths slow down. The block she put on his mind wouldn't be permanent, but it should get him through the night.

After she had completed her work, she slowly began to draw herself out of his mind. For the block she had put on his mind, she hadn't needed to dive deep. Throughout the process she had remained aware of her surroundings in the real world, unlike some of her other more intense mind techniques like her Ninjutsus. Just as she was about to draw the last portion of her mind out of his, she felt herself stop.

Something wasn't letting her leave.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she mentally struggled to bring herself completely back to her own body. She had never experienced something like this before. It was almost as if her mind was anchored to some immovable object inside of Naruto.

Then, like a fish caught on a line, she felt herself being pulled back in. She struggled, but it was all in vain. Slowly, she felt herself lose her awareness of the real world as she was pulled deep into Naruto's mind.

* * *

Almost like waking up from a dream, her eyes fluttered open as she took in her surroundings. She found herself in a completely different place than she was expecting. She had expected Naruto's mind to be this bright sunshiny place with clouds made of ramen. Instead, she found herself inside a dark sewer tunnel make of cold metal and stone.

She slowly rose up out of the shallow water she was laying in. Normally, she would have been grossed out laying in sewer water. She had to keep reminding herself that none of this was real. It was all a projection of Naruto's mind.

But damn, it sure felt real.

From the feel of the water, to touching the cold rusted pipes running along the walls, it all felt so tangible. Never had she been in a mind as well structured as this. She started to walk down the sewer. She assumed that somehow, someway, Naruto had dragged her into whatever this place was. She'd just have to find him and figure out what was going on. She searched tunnel to tunnel. The more she explored this place in Naruto's mind, the more she came to a sobering realization.

Maybe she didn't know Naruto as well as she thought she did.

Ino rounded a corner and found herself at the entrance to a large chamber with torches lining the walls. Finally, she was getting somewhere. She walked inside the large chamber, her footsteps echoing wall to wall as she did so.

Other than the torches, the room was pretty basic. Water on the ground, stone on the walls, and piping running every direction. The only thing that looked peculiar was an array of vertical pipes forming a barrier between herself and another section of the chamber. She walked forward and studied them a little closer. It was only after a few steps that she suddenly came to a stop, her eyes widening. These vertical 'pipes' weren't sewer pipes at all.

They were metal bars.

In front of her was the largest cage she had ever seen. Now that she was closer, she could make out a seal on the middle of the bars where the lock would normally be. She looked around trying to find Naruto's mental projection. What would he be hiding behind something like this?

" **You can stop looking for the boy, I was the one who brought you here."**

The voice, deep and booming had come from the cage. Ino tripped backwards as she fell down on her butt trying to scramble away. She felt her blood run cold from the evil intent behind whoever had spoken. Ino sat there in sewer water, too scared to move, too scared to act. Never in her life had a voice made her feel physically ill.

Then the voice started to chuckle.

Like something from nightmarish books, a red glow appeared in the cage, outlining the face of a giant fox. His teeth were bared but seemed to be grinning at her. It took her a few moments to realize she was screaming.

" **SILENCE!"**

Immediately Ino shut up as she took in the entire form in front of her. The fox was giant with multiple tails waving around behind it. She finally mustered up the senses to speak.

"W-W-What… W-W-Who are you?"

The fox continued to gaze at her from behind its giant cage. It seemed to be enjoying itself.

" **Have I been gone so long that you insects are starting to forget about me? Let me give you a hint. Years ago, I ravished your village and killed your Hokage. Unfortunately, that cursed Yondaime sealed me inside a newborn baby."**

Ino shook her head. "No way, that's not possible. The Yondaime killed the Kyuubi! The Kyuubi wasn't sealed away in some baby. All you are, are some mental projection. I don't know why Naruto's mind constructed you but-"suddenly the dots started to connect.

The Kyuubi was sealed inside of Naruto as a baby, that's why everyone hated him so much. They were afraid of him. This thing was the big secret Naruto had been keeping from her.

Ino felt Ill again.

" **Now you understand. I'm VERY real."**

Ino wanted out. She wanted out right now! She closed her eyes as she again attempted to cut off her mental connection to Naruto. All this did was cause the Kyuubi to laugh.

" **You're not going anywhere unless I allow it."**

Ino stopped trying and looked up at the giant fox. Despite her being the heir to the Yamanaka clan, he was in control of this situation.

"Fine… What do you want?"

" **The boy has been poisoned. When and if help arrives, treat him for it. My chakra will keep him alive for a while, but not indefinitely."**

Ino raised her eyebrow a little confused. "Naruto has been poisoned? Why are you telling me this? Do you actually care for him-"

She screamed as the Kyuubi rammed against the bars of its prison trying to get to her, the metal bars shaking and vibrating from the impact.

" **I DO NOT CARE FOR ANY HUMAN, LEAST OF ALL THIS BRAT! The only reason I care about him being poisoned is because if he dies, I die. I can't have that happening before I escape from the cursed cage."**

"Escape...?" Ino muttered.

The Kyuubi smiled as he calmed down, laying himself down on the ground and putting his head on his front paws.

" **Do you really think this cage will hold me forever?"**

"No… even if you are real, you can't escape. If your story is true and you really were sealed away inside of Naruto, the Yondaime would have assured that you were locked away for good! YOU CANT ESCAPE!" Ino shouted back as she thought of the implications of what the fox was saying.

" **Can't I**?" The Kyuubi chuckled. " **Where do you think that red chakra came from that you saw surrounding the boy earlier? This seal is weakening and is going to continue weakening over time. One day, I'll break loose. One day, I'll be free. No more seal or cages to stand between me and all of you."**

Ino was silent.

The Fox smiled as he continued to educate her. " **Do you want to know the first thing I'm going to do when I break out? I'm going to make this boy pay for keeping me prisoner by killing everyone he cares about. I'm keeping a mental list. Would you like to hear the names?"**

Ino got up and started to back away.

" **Hiruzen Sarutobi** ", the Fox started, " **Iruka Umino**."

Ino ran out of the chamber back down the sewer tunnel.

" **Kakashi Hatake**."

Ino kept running as she heard his voice echo throughout the tunnel.

" **Sasuke Uchiha**."

She had to get away, she had to find a way out.

" **Sakura Haruno**."

Ino arrived at the place she had entered the tunnel. She closed her eyes and focused all of her might on breaking the mental connection. This time, she was successful. She felt her mind start to slip out of Naruto's as the sewer system around her faded to black. Right before the connection finally broke, Ino could barely make out a whisper as she heard the Fox say the last name on the list.

" **Ino Yamanaka**."

* * *

 _The next morning_

Kankuro followed behind his siblings as he examined the contents of his weapons pouch. It had only been one day, yet there in the bag were four Heaven Scrolls and two Earth scrolls. A handful of Genin squads had the unfortunate luck of crossing paths with Gaara throughout the day yesterday.

Kankuro's eye twitched as he watched another drop of blood come off of Gaara's gourd. The sand was still moist from its feeding yesterday.

"Hey Gaara, maybe we should head to the tower? We have plenty of scrolls and I don't think we'll be getting any extra credit for them." Kankuro said, trying to lighten the mood with his younger brother.

Gaara came to a stop and turned to address him.

"No."

"Why not?" Kankuro frowned as the conversation started to go the exact way he was expecting.

"Because she is still out there. I told her I was going to hunt her down." Gaara replied.

"Pinky? She's probably dead already. These canyons would have ate that rookie team alive." Kankuro tried to reason.

Gaara shook his head. "We're going to keep looking."

Temari decided to finally speak up as she unstrapped her fan to lean on it. "And what if we say no?"

Both brothers turned and looked at their sister incredulously.

"What did you say?" Gaara replied as he glared at her.

"You heard me." She said, finding courage to match his glare in kind.

At first Kankuro thought his sister was insane. The more he thought about it though, the more he started to agree with her. He was tired of walking on eggshells around his younger brother. He unstrapped his puppet and set it on the ground to lean on it like Temari was doing with her fan.

"Yeah. What she said." Kankuro said, mustering up a little courage himself.

Gaara didn't say anything as the cork popped out of his gourd, a steady stream of sand coming out and surrounding him.

"No! Fuck that! You're not going to threaten us anymore. You might be strong Gaara, but me and Kankuro are pretty strong as well. We're a family and a team. We need to work things out together, not get distracted by your personal vendettas." Temari stated

Kankuro eyed the sand, knowing better than anyone how dangerous it was. "What are you going to do? Kill your older brother and sister?"

"Yes." Gaara bluntly stated, the situation starting to become dangerous.

Temari opened her fan and Kankuro connected his chakra strings.

"Gaara, don't be stupid. Fighting us isn't going to help you pass the exam." Kankuro tried to talk some sense into his younger brother.

Gaara looked back and forth from sibling to sibling. "It won't be a fight, it's going to be a massacre-"

The sand suddenly reached up on its own and caught an arrow right before it could go through Gaara's temple.

All three siblings fell silent. That had come out of nowhere.

Gaara turned towards a group of distant trees as he saw a few more arrows get launched from them. He put his hand up and forced the sand to reach out and catch the arrows well before they could reach him. As soon as the arrows came in contact with the sand, they detonated, scattering sand and dust all around.

Temari addressed the situation, forgetting their sibling squabble. "Gaara, all of those arrows were specifically going your direction. Someone is trying to take you out."

"All I see", Gaara replied as he slammed his hands together summoning forth all of the sand in the area from the canyon floor and walls, "is more food for mother." The sand gathered together and launched itself towards the group of trees like a tidal wave.

* * *

Hano frowned as he lowered his bow, watching the enormous wall of sand approach them. "Well… this isn't going as planned."

"YA THINK!" Karui shouted as she and Omoi pulled out their swords. "As soon as we stop that sand we are done Jinchuriki hunting! We are just going to pass this exam like normal Genin!"

Hano sighed as he stepped back behind his teammates. "Fine."

The three members of the team all put out their weapons, touching the tips of them together. Omoi and Karui used their swords, while Hano used his bow. A glowing circle of electricity formed at the weapons point of connection as they began a coordinated Jutsu. The team waited until the sand was nearly upon them to finish it.

"Raiton: Renkai Sandabomu no Jutsu!" Their three voices rang out at once as they touched the tip of their weapons to the ground. An explosion of energy occurred as the lightening travel through the ground and met the oncoming sand. The electricity crawled up the sand wave, shredding its form in a spectacular fashion as the energy spread throughout the grains. The once seemingly living wall of sand was now struggling to stay in form.

Team Samui did not stick around to see if it would recover.

* * *

Gaara glared as he watched his prey escape out of the trees and flee down the canyon. He wouldn't be able to catch them… for now anyways.

He looked down at the first arrow his sand had caught. He was lucky that he had already been taking sand out of his gourd. He half wondered if the sand would have been able to react in time otherwise. The thought gave him some form of excitement. Out there was a semi capable Genin who thought they had the skills to hunt down Gaara of the Desert. Gaara not only accepted the challenge, he welcomed it.

Proving his strength over others gave him purpose.

A brief moment of silence followed where his two older siblings simply stared at the back of his head, waiting for his next move. At the very least, Gaara felt a little satisfaction knowing that neither of them would dare make the first sound. He enjoyed making them wait and worry about what his next move would be.

Finally, Gaara turned around as sand returned to him, collecting inside of his gourd.

"We're going to the tower. The girl is probably headed in that direction anyways."

Temari and Kankuro let out a sigh of relief as they put their weapons away.

* * *

Ino sat clutching a kunai against her chest. She hadn't slept through the night at all. She was sitting across from Naruto as he struggled to sleep. He had remained, and still was, unconscious as his body fought the poison in his system.

She told herself that she wasn't sleeping because she needed to keep guard while Naruto was out of commission. She told herself that she was currently clutching a kunai because she wanted to be immediately ready if any danger presented itself. She told herself that her experience inside of Naruto's mind was all fake, some silly imagination that her subconscious had conjured up.

Deep down, she knew that she was lying to herself.

No matter how much she denied it, she knew that the experience had been real. The boy laying down in front of her wasn't the loudmouthed happy idiot she had always known. He was something else now. She felt like she hardly knew him at all.

The more she thought about it, the more she realized she should have not gotten so close to Naruto so quickly. In reality, they hadn't gone out and done much together. It hadn't taken them long to find some chemistry in their back and forth dialogue and for her to actually start developing some sort of crush on him. Now she was actually wanting to spend time with him.

She supposed she should have seen something like this coming. Maybe not a Kyuubi sized something, but something nonetheless. Naruto had told her that the villagers hated him, that he was harboring some secret he couldn't share. She had thought he was being overly dramatic, but now with hindsight she could see he hadn't been over dramatic at all. If anything, he had been under dramatic.

Now here she was, protecting him. Protecting the boy that hosted the Kyuubi, a monster that knew her by name.

She sighed. Whatever happened to worrying about boys and what kind of clothes she was going to buy from the shop that week? She decided that she needed to move around a little to clear her head. She stood up and wandered over towards the entrance of the cave where light was weakly flooding in. Slowly, she leaned around the corner only showing half of her face as she glanced outside.

She felt her breath catch in her throat.

There were three Genin from Oto looking around outside. She figured some Genin would come to investigate last night's event, she had just hoped that Team 7 or Team 10 would have found her and Naruto first.

She looked down at her red swollen ankle, remembering that she was in no condition to fight. Even if she was, she'd be a rookie taking on three more experienced Genin which wouldn't bode well. Her best hope was to lie low and pray that they didn't check out the cave for some reason. If that didn't work out, then the cave provided her a clear shot at hitting one of them with her mind transfer Jutsu. Maybe she could try to sneak attack them that way.

She withdrew her head and quickly wove the hand signs to be ready as she heard voices approaching.

"Don't you think we should be spending our time looking for Sasuke? Lord Oro-"

"Don't say his name!" a harsh voice cut in. "Don't be so foolish to think that just because we're alone that we can't be overheard."

"I'm just saying, if the Uchiha is as good as we've heard, there's no way this blood trail would belong to him. If it is him, then he's weaker than we thought and we shouldn't bother wasting time trying to find him."

Ino silently cursed at herself. She should have taken the time to clear her tracks better. She should have known better. Also, why were they looking for Sasuke?

"Hey, is this trail leading towards that cave?" Ino heard a feminine voice start talking.

Ino held her breath as silence ensued. Finally, the guy with the harsh voice spoke up again.

"Maybe? It's hard to tell with the blood thinning out. Whoever was packed out of here probably is dead already from blood loss. Kin, go check it out. Me and Zaku will look around here and see if we can pick up the trail again."

Ino closed her eyes. This wasn't good. Maybe the girl would just peak in the entrance and call it good. To actually find Ino and Naruto she'd have to come inside the cave and actually come around the corner.

Ino felt her hopes die when she heard footsteps echoing in the cave.

Ino opened her eyes and waited. She'd have to hit the Jutsu as soon as the Genin came around the corner. If she missed, her and Naruto would be toast.

For what felt like a small eternity, Ino listened as the footsteps came closer and closer. Finally, Ino watched as a girl came around the corner, eyes going wide with surprise. "Do-"

"Shintenshin no Jutsu" Ino whispered as she felt her consciousness leave her body and go into the girl.

Ino's perspective changed as she watched her own body slump forward. She had gained control of the stranger without much of a fight. She let out a sigh of relief that she had at least been successful in this.

"Kin? Did you say something?" she heard one of this girl's teammates call out from behind her.

"I said", Ino talked, a voice coming out that was not her own," that there's nothing in here. Just an old bird nest." She turned around and went out of the cave into the sunlight.

Her two 'teammates' were waiting for her outside. One had some metal headgear on and the other looked like some hunched over mummy wearing a fur coat with long sleeves. The mummy cocked his head.

"You didn't find anything? Zaku found the blood trail again and it looked like it lead right to that cave." This mummy guy was definitely the one with the harsh voice from earlier.

Ino shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. I could see well enough that nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe they created a fake trail to throw us off? I mean, what kind of idiot ninja wouldn't cover their tracks and would choose to hide in the most obvious place?" Ino lied.

Zaku shrugged, accepting the explanation at face value. "Sounds about right. Let's stop wasting time following fake trails. We have a mission. Come on Dosu, let's get out of here."

Dosu seemed less convinced. He eyed Ino for a while, giving her a suspicious look. "I'm going to take a look inside first."

Ino decided to bluff as she shrugged again. "Knock yourself out, just be sure to look out for the bird shit. It's everywhere." Her stomach was twisting in knots as she hoped he wouldn't actually go in. She was hoping to lead them away first before trying to attack them.

"I'll walk carefully." Dosu mocked as he walked forward toward the cave.

Ino cursed inwardly. It looked like she had no choice. As soon as he walked past her, she reached into her pouch and threw a handful of kunai at both boys. Her aim was dead on…

…or it would have been if she had actually grabbed kunai.

As luck would have it, this girl liked to use Senbon needles, something Ino was not very experienced at. Throwing the Senbon incorrectly caused them to spread out wider than she wanted. Both boys cursed as they were peppered with needles, not a single needle hitting a critical area.

Despite another unfortunate turn of events, Ino knew she needed to press her advantage for all it was worth. She immediately rushed Zaku, hoping to take him out of the fight quickly. She grabbed two more Senbon, one to hold in each hand as a weapon.

Before she reached him, Zaku stuck out his hand open palmed towards her. It was odd, what was he expecting to do without any hand signs?

Ino got her answer as a pressure wave erupted from his hand, hitting her dead on. It felt like being rammed front on by an angry bull. The wave carried her a distance before losing enough power for her to fall to the ground. She sat back up as quick as her body would allow her, spitting out blood in the process.

Zaku and Dosu each pulled needles out of their bodies as they came together to confront her.

"You little Bitch!" Zaku shouted at her as he pulled a needle out of his bicep. "You have shitty aim you know that?"

Dosu, seemed to be less angry and more curious. "Odd… I would have thought after that hit her Henge would have dropped…"

"Please, that hit was nothing." Ino stood back up shakily onto her feet. She needed to come up with a new plan.

Zaku snorted. "Yeah, says the girl coughing up blood. Now tell us what you did with Kin?!"

"I got a better question, what do you all want with Sasuke Uchiha?"

Both boy's eyes went wide. Ino had their attention now.

Dosu spoke up as he pulled back his sleeve showing some sort of metal wrist device on his forearm. "It's none of your business, we're-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Ino turned around and started running away, jumping up into some nearby trees and bounding from tree limb to tree limb.

"Hey bitch! Get back here!" She heard Zaku shout behind her as the two boys gave chase. Ino didn't like leaving her real body back at the cave unattended, but she had no choice. She had to buy some time.

Reaching into Kin's weapon pouch, Ino fished around for anything useful. It seemed the girl only liked to use Senbon and… bells? Ino heard a jingle has she felt the round objects. She let them go and continued her search.

She looked over her shoulder slightly panicked. The boys were closing in. In fact, it looked like Zaku was pointing his palm at her again. Ino quickly took a 90 degree turn and jumped out of the way as a wave of pressure blew away the branch she was just on.

Finally, Ino felt something that might be useful. She plucked a single explosive tag out of the pouch. She'd need to use it and try to damage or kill the entire team. Her timing would have to impeccable. If she broke the connection too early, Kin would regain control of her body and have time to disable or remove the tag before it could do any damage. If Ino broke the connection too late, she'd blow up and either take the same damage that Kin took or more likely die.

Ino clutched the tag tightly as she suddenly jumped down from the trees onto the ground. She fell to her knees and put her hands above her head, keeping the tag concealed inside of her clutched hand. Time for her to put on a show.

"Stop please! I give up! I don't want to die!" She started to sob theatrically, tears running down her cheeks as she sniffled.

She heard both boys touch down behind her.

"Smartest decision you've made all day!" She heard Zaku say as he grabbed onto the back of her hair and jerked her backwards onto the ground. He put his foot on her throat, restricting her breathing. "How did you know we were looking for Sasuke Uchiha?"

There was pressure on her throat, but Ino could have talked if she wanted to. Instead, she faked gasped like she couldn't breathe or form words. She needed to buy more time until Dosu got closer. For some reason he was observing the scene from a distance.

"Really? I'm not pushing down that hard." Zaku said. "Quit faking it and answer the question."

"Can't… breath…" Ino continued the charade, waiting for Dosu to get closer. Why was he hanging back?!

"She knew about Sasuke because she was inside the cave and overheard our conversation as we approached." Dosu commented, unmoving. "That's where she must have switched out with Kin… but why hasn't her Henge dropped?" Dosu spoke, half talking to Zaku, half thinking out loud. "Something is not right here…"

"You want her Henge to drop? I'll get it to drop." Zaku said. Ino was caught off guard as he suddenly lifted his foot off of her throat and brought it down to stomp on her nose.

Ino let out a shriek of pain as she felt her nose crunch to the side. She grabbed onto his foot trying to move it off of her face.

"Drop your damn Henge!" Zaku shouted as he started to twist his foot back and forth, grinding it onto Ino's already broken nose. Ino just kept squirming, trying not to scream anymore. She knew she'd have to act fast. At this rate, he'd start doing other things to incapacitate her. She'd just have to hope that Dosu was close enough to the blast to get hurt.

Ino brought her hands together and formed a hand sign, doing two things simultaneously.

One, she detonated the tag.

Two, she released her Jutsu.

* * *

Ino sat up quickly as her perspective changed back to the cave, an explosion sounding in the distance. She looked down at her hands and saw that her right hand was burned in the palm. She must have barely released the Jutsu as the explosion started. If she had been any later, she'd be in a lot worse shape right now.

She felt her stomach go queasy. She'd just blown up a few Genin around her age. While she was sure that they had ill intentions, she couldn't help but feel bad. She'd have to shelf her thoughts and mentally process this all later.

She reached up with her good hand and felt her aching nose. It was swollen and bent to the side as blood steadily dripped down out of it. Damn that Zaku for messing with her looks. Why did her real body have to receive the same injuries?!

She quickly crawled over to Naruto and started to scoop him up. She didn't know if she took out the entire team or not, but she wasn't going to hang around and find out. He groaned as she started to slowly carry him out of the cave. He still felt hot and sweaty as his body continued to fight the poison. She limped along, her ankle a lot sorer and more swollen now than it was last night.

She only made it a few more steps before she stumbled, wincing from the pain. Naruto let out a groan as his head bounced off of the cave floor. She wouldn't be able to carry him out, not in the shape that she was in. She'd have to improvise again.

She made a hand sign and created a Henge that made her look like Kin.

She limped to the front of the cave and waited, wheezing out of her mouth since her nose was swollen and busted up. It kept throbbing, sending waves of pain at her like a heartbeat.

She saw a figure approaching quickly through the trees.

Ino stepped out as Dosu landed in front of her, some of the fur on his jacket singed and burnt. He was livid.

"What the fuck Kin! Where have you been!"

Ino thumbed the cave behind her. "A girl ambushed me inside of the cave". Her voice sounding very nasally. "What happened to you?"

"That girl just kamikazed me and Zaku!" He roared.

Ino widened her eyes, feinting surprise. "What?! What happened to Zaku?"

"It doesn't matter, something is not right about all of this!" He pointed at her. "What is our Master's name?"

Ino thought back on the conversations she heard from them when they had been approaching the cave. "We… we don't say his name. You're always telling us that."

"No! No games!" He lifted his sleeve showing the weird metal device again. "I don't believe you are Kin! I don't know what happened back there, but the girl that set off the explosion was not using a Henge technique."

She put her hands up trying to calm him down. "Whoa! Dosu it's me! I don't know what happened back there, but that wasn't me."

"Then tell me our Master's name?!" He spat back.

She stood silent. She was out of ideas. She reached into her pouch and threw a kunai at him as quick as she could. He dodged it with ease.

"Just like I thought! You aren't Kin. I'm going to make you pay girl!" He shouted.

Ino dispelled the Henge and grabbed a kunai into each of her hands. "Don't you dare take a step closer!"

Dosu ignored her threat and sprinted towards her. She got into a stance, getting herself ready to play defense. One good strike was all that she needed to assure safety for herself and Naruto. Right before Dosu came into striking range, he stopped and then delivered the worse timed punch Ino had ever seen. He was swinging for her head, but the punch wasn't even close to connecting. Such a wild swing left him open, so she got on the balls of her feet and prepared to jump forward to slash him.

Then the world started to spin.

Ino felt everything lose focus as she lost her sense of balance. She dropped her kunai and covered her ears as a piercing ring rang through them, shaking them to their core. She fell to one knee, unable to keep herself steady on her feet.

It was at that moment she realized she had lost. No more tricks, no more buying time. She let out a hollow chuckle on the inside. At least the Kyuubi wouldn't get her.

Dosu stood over the defeated girl. "You're from Konoha… tell me, do you know where Sasuke Uchiha is? Give me some valuable information and I might let you live."

Ino could barely make out his words over the faint ringing in her ears. "Even if I did, I'd never tell you."

"Fair enough. I don't have time to continue this little dance. I'll-"

Dosu suddenly turned and put his arms up in defense as a blue blur collided with him, sending him skating back on his feet away from Ino. A few seconds later, Ino's vision cleared enough for her to recognize her savior.

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke was breathing hard, covered in dirt, scrapes, and bruises. He had rushed to arrive at the scene. Without taking his eyes off of Dosu, Sasuke asked Ino a question:

"Naruto?"

"He's… He's safe for now, but he's been poisoned. He'll need some better medical treatment." Ino replied a wave of relief washing over her.

Sasuke nodded, letting out a sigh of relief he didn't know he was holding.

"Sasuke Uchiha, just the man I was looking for." Dosu suddenly spoke up. "Thanks for saving me the trouble of having to find you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow a little confused but didn't ask a question.

"My master wants you dead. I'm going to receive a great reward for being the one to take you out." Dosu continued.

"You sure talk a lot." Sasuke commented without a smile.

Dosu actually chuckled. "You're right, I am being chatty."

"Tell your master if he wants me dead he should come himself. "

"Believe me when I say this Sasuke Uchiha", Dose raised his sleeve to prepare for combat, "meeting my master would be the worst thing that has ever happened to you."

Before Dosu could make a move; Shikamaru, Sakura, and Choji finally arrived at the scene. Dosu made the mistake of looking over at them to curse.

Sasuke acted immediately, rushing foreword and kicking Dosu right under the chin as he was distracted. While airborne, Sasuke jumped and spun to give Dosu another solid kick to the chest, sending the Oto-nin flying. Dosu hit the ground with an audible 'thud'.

Sasuke landed on him, putting a foot down on the Dosu's arm to hold the device at bay. "Tell me, were you the one that attacked my teammate last night?!" Sasuke spat at him.

"No! I had nothing to do with your friend! I was only supposed to find you!" Dosu replied, still recovering from Sasuke's assault.

"You know what, this is a waste of time." Sasuke looked over his shoulder to Ino. "Ino come over here and read his mind. We'll find out what-"

Now it was Sasuke who made the same mistake of taking his eyes off of his opponent. Dosu used his free hand to punch Sasuke in the side of the knee, getting his leg to buckle. Dosu was able to pull his arm free as he quickly rolled away and got back to his feet.

"This isn't over Uchiha!" With that, Dosu fled back to the wooded area his teammates had been.

Sakura quickly sped over to Ino. Ino watched as the color drained from her face. It made sense, Ino supposed she looked like shit with a broken nose and being covered with dirt and blood, some of which was her own and some of which was Naruto's.

"Ino are you ok?! Where's-"

"Naruto's back in the cave behind me. Sakura, he's been poisoned. Can you treat him for it?" Ino pleaded.

"Poisoned, how do you know-"

"I just know ok! Please Sakura go help him!"

Sakura nodded and ran to the cave without another word.

Shikamaru and Choji reached Ino and knelt down by her, both of them putting a hand on her shoulder. Both had a mixed look of relief and worry.

"How… How did you find me?"

"We had already come down to the canyon floor to look for you two. Once we heard the explosion, we took off to investigate." Shikamaru replied.

Ino didn't allow either of them to talk anymore as she leaned forward into their arms, the stress of the day finally coming to a head. Between the fall, the Kyuubi, and fighting the Oto-nin, it had all been too much for her. She let her emotions get the better of her as she openly sobbed onto her teammates shoulders.

Neither Choji nor Shikamaru said a word as they held her.

* * *

 _Extra:_

Kakashi and Guy quietly crawled up onto a rooftop, peering over the edge to put eyes on their target. With their students off performing the survival test, they had a lot of time to train, relax, or any other activities they wished to pursue. Their current mission would be classified as 'other activities'.

Kakashi and Guy watched as a group of Kumo-nin walked into the bar, among them a certain well-endowed blond. Guy frowned, turning to whisper to his rival.

"Kakashi, let's get out of here. She made it clear the other day that she's not interested…"

Kakashi feigned surprise. "What? Don't tell me you're giving up after one failed attempt."

"I'm not giving up; I'm just trying to respect her wishes."

"You know it's very unyouthful to give up so easily."

"I told you I'm not giving up! Why do you care anyways, if I do get a date then you'll lose our game! Don't you dread a humiliating defeat?"

"Yeah Guy, I simply dread it." Kakashi responded with empty sarcasm. "Listen Guy, I'm just trying to be a good friend. For as long as I've known you… you haven't had the best luck with the ladies."

"First off, I'll have you know that the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha has many female admirers. Second, you just want to see me embarrass myself again!"

Kakashi gave him a skeptical look. "I want you to name one, just one female that you feel like you'd have a chance of asking out on a date?"

"I… I… what about Anko? I could probably-" Guy was cut off as Kakashi actually snorted while trying to stifle his laughter.

"Anko? Guy, she would eat you alive!"

"But I-"

"No."

"But-"

"No. If Anko is the first thing that comes to your mind as a potential dating option then we're in bigger trouble than I thought."

"Fine! What do you think I should do? I've already pulled out my best moves on her!"

Kakashi just stared at Guy in silence for a while before speaking. "That little show you put on the other day… Those were your best moves?"

"Yeah! Are you as shocked as me that she didn't succumb to my tactics of seduction?"

"Yeah, absolutely floored." Kakashi replied with the same empty sarcasm. "Listen Guy, just be yourself ok? Go in there and win her over."

"You're right!" Guy said with some renewed vigor. "Remember this moment well Kakashi, for when the night is over I will have become the permanent champion in our game!" With that, Guy flipped forward off of the roof and landed on his feet, strolling into the bar.

Kakashi smiled under his mask as he watched his rival courageously stroll into assured failure. Now Kakashi just needed to enjoy the show. A small part of him hoped for his friend's success… but that was quickly smothered out by his larger desire to see Guy get shut down again.

It was the simple things in life that brought Kakashi joy.

* * *

Samui sipped on a drink as the other Jounin at her table got loud and rambunctious. She was never a heavy drinker, but she did enjoy sitting back and watching her comrades make fools of themselves. Honestly, she was just happy to be here at all. Being a newly promoted Jounin, she had been afraid she'd be excluded from the group's activities. To her relief, the other Kumo-Jounin had taken a liking to her and welcomed her warmly into the fold. She was happy to sit back for the ride, not wanting to call attention to herself or rock the boat. For that reason, she nearly choked on her drink when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Ah there you are fair maiden Samui!"

The whole table went silent as they all turned and looked at someone behind Samui, most of them wearing huge grins. One of the guys teased her by saying "OHHHH Samui, looks like your 'friend' is back!" Samui just rolled her eyes and swiveled around in her chair. Sure enough, there was the same strange Konoha Jounin still dressed all in green, flashing her a sparkling smile just like the other day.

She sighed. "What do you want? Your name was Guy, right?"

His eyes lit up. "I am honored that you remember my name! I have come once more to seek for your affections!" He announced as more eyes were drawn to him from around the bar.

"Listen, I'm going to repeat what I said the other day, I'm not-"

He cut her off by waving his hands. "WAIT! Just hear what I have to say! You see, I have figured out what I did wrong last time."

Samui took another sip. "Fine, do tell then."

"You see, I thought I'd win your affections by a strong presentation and openly trying to grab your attention, declaring my intentions in front of the world. Like a colorful tropical bird or peacock would in the wild."

Samui raised an eyebrow, unsure of where this was going.

"But that was a mistake. You see, I've realized you're not a peacock at all. You're a lioness!" He continued on.

"A lioness…" Samui replied, now genuinely curious where this was all leading.

"Yep! You don't want flowers or a strong colorful presentation! You want an alpha male, a real king of the jungle! Tonight, I will prove to you that the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha is alpha enough to earn your affections!"

Samui took another sip, wishing she had a stronger drink. She figured she'd at least have a little fun with this situation. "And how will you do that?"

"Why, by winning any physical contest against any other male in here! You name the challenge and challenger and I'll beat them for you!"

Yep, Samui was definitely going to have fun with this.

Immediately she pointed to the largest Kumo-nin sitting at the table behind her. "Beat him in an arm wrestle."

Said Kumo-nin stood up and overshadowed Guy. He was about 7 feet tall and weighed in at 285 lbs. To say he was large in stature was an understatement. He spoke in a low, raspy voice.

"How about it Konoha? You want to go a round with me?"

Undeterred, Guy grabbed a small standing table and set it between them, putting his elbow down at the ready. "Bring it."

The whole table cheered as they all stood up and surrounded the two men. Most Leaf-nin would be nervous at the center of a group of Kumo-nin, but not Guy. This was his moment to rise to the occasion.

The big man leaned down and planted his meaty arm across from Guy's. His hand looked like it swallowed up Guy's as they interlocked palms. Another Kumo-nin planted his hand on top of theirs, acting as the referee as he finished drinking the alcohol out of the glass in his free hand. "Alrighty boys, match starts in 3… 2… 1!" The referee removed his hand as the two combatants had a test of strength.

Samui was actually surprised that Guy wasn't immediately slammed down. He was losing ground, but not very quickly. Despite this, Guy grinned at his opponent from across the table as the two men struggled against each other.

"What's… with… that… shit… eating … grin?" the large Kumo-nin asked between labored breaths as he slowly forced Guy's hand further and further down.

"You believe this contest will be settled by strength alone…" Guy said, a little more clearly than his opponent.

"That's… because… it … is!" The Kumo-nin responded as he neared victory, sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Strength is important yes, and in raw power you have me beat. However…" Guy's hand stopped suddenly right before touching the table. "… I happen to be an endurance Beast. Tell me, does your arm burn? Because I'm hardly feeling a thing." Guy spoke confidently. Slowly, Guy's hand started to rise as he forced his opponent back up. The Kumo-nin's face started going red as he strained against the endurance of Might Guy.

Although she'd never say it, Samui was actually impressed. Guy not only forced his way back up to the starting position, but was now starting to force the large man's hand down. The large man's veins bulged as he tried to fight his way back up.

To Samui's dismay, Guy looked over and winked at her before tapping the large man's hand to the table.

Some of the bar erupted in cheers as some of the ninjas celebrated the underdog victory. Others started booing, not happy that a Konoha-nin beat a Kumo-nin. Through all the commotion, Guy turned to face Samui, giving her a thumbs up.

"What do you say Samui, are you impressed?"

"Eh." Samui shrugged. "That was only one challenge."

"Then throw me another challenge! I relish in the opportunity to prove my Alphaness!"

"Is that even a word?"

"It is now! What will it be? A test of speed? A test of agility?" The whole crowd quieted down eagerly listening for what Samui would have Guy do next.

Samui sat back for a moment thinking, taking the time to take another sip. Normally she wouldn't participate in such immature fun, but the little alcohol she had drank put her in a good mood. She smiled as she thought of the perfect challenge.

She leaned forward putting her hand behind her back, feeling a sore spot. "I have this constant pain in my back and shoulders that no Doctor can seem to fix. The only thing that makes it feel better is a good… hard… massage."

To her delight, she watched the color drain from his face.

She turned around in her stool, putting her back toward him. "I challenge you to try to get rid of my back pain."

Guy's face went tomato red as all of the ninja in the bar started to whistle and holler in support. He gulped as one of the Kumo-nin nudged him forward towards the awaiting Kunoichi.

"That's … that's ok… that'll be… no trouble at all…" He took slow baby steps towards her.

She turned and looked at him over her shoulder. "Maybe you could start up high… here I'll help." She reached to the side and slide her shirt over, exposing the skin around her shoulder.

More ninja started to whistle as Guy looked on in fear. The whole bar started to tap their glasses down in unison, chanting "GUY! GUY! GUY! GUY! GUY!" Beads of sweat started to run down his face.

She rose an eyebrow. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" He said too quickly.

"I thought you were my King of the Jungle?"

"I am!"

"Well the King is sure taking is sweet time. Maybe you aren't as alpha as I thought…"

"NO WAIT!" Guy shouted as he tried to muster up some courage. "I can do this!" He lifted his shaking hands towards her shoulders, the movement taking far more effort than the arm wrestling match. His fingertips made contact with her exposed shoulder…

… and then he passed out.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Very Ino centric chapter. A lot happened here. Ino was in a few life or death situations and met a monster. That'd make for a tough day.**

 **What's going to happen with Dosu, Zaku, and Kin? Are Kin and Zaku even alive? Stay tuned.**

 **What will the fallout be from Ino learning Naruto's not-so-little secret? Stay tuned.**

 **Will Guy ever score that date with someone WAY out of his league? Stay tuned.**

 **Most importantly, I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed after the last chapter. I said reviews go a long way in helping my motivations, and in response this story got a couple dozen new reviews. By far, that is the most reviews in a month that this story has ever received. I really appreciate it!**

 **Now, why did Mr. Kyuubi bring Ino in for a chat? Two reasons. First, he needed to tell her Naruto had been poisoned. If Naruto dies, he dies… even though he doesn't really die… he would just reappear later after he reformed… but then again, if that's the case, why do the Bijuu care if their hosts die?... Ok my brain hurts now let's move on.**

 **Second, he was purposefully trying to scare Ino. Think about it as if you were him. He knows that Naruto uses Kyuubi chakra every time he is enraged. At this point, the Kyuubi wants Naruto to be as isolated and angry as possible. If someone like Ino came along and started to form a good positive bond with Naruto, it would only make sense that the Kyuubi would want to shut that shit down.**

 **Anyways, what did you think of Ino's chat with the Kyuubi?**

 **Until next time!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Sakura had taken a few hours to give Naruto the proper treatment. The main issue with poisons was figuring out what the poison actually was. If one were to administer the wrong antidote for a poison that wasn't in the patient's system, then the antidote itself could become harmful. She had brought out an array of chakra papers with specific medical seals on them. It was typical for medics to use these papers to narrow down possibilities of what the poisonous agent was.

The first step had been determining if the poison was an organic or inorganic molecule. Placing a few drops of Naruto's blood on the paper turned the paper black which was representative of a Carbon based poison, i.e. it was organic.

Next Sakura added more drops of blood onto the next piece of paper with a different seal. This piece of paper differentiated organic compounds between plant based, animal based, or artificially made organic compounds. To Sakura's relief, the paper turned red, meaning that whatever was affecting Naruto was some sort of animal venom. The worst case scenario would have been if the poison was artificially made. Poison experts that made their own artificial poisons were notorious for creating poisons that were difficult to treat, for obvious reasons.

The next step was figuring out what kind of animal the poison or venom was collected from. Sakura chose the next piece of paper for this sequence and again added some blood. She flashed her chakra through the paper and waited to see what would happen. This one would take the longest, as this particular piece of paper could identify what kind of animal an animal based poison or venom came from. If she had to guess, she would have said the venom was collected from some sort of snake. Snakes were one of the common animals used for poison collection because one snake could be milked for visible amounts of venom. It was much more effective than trying to collect visible amounts of venom from other animals such as spiders or scorpions. She started sorting through her antidote scroll, finding the section that had antidotes for snake poison in it.

To her surprise, the kanji for 'Jellyfish' appeared on the medical chakra paper. She was glad she checked as she adjusted her scroll, looking for a different section. In the Land of Fire, at least at Konoha, it was almost unheard of to treat individuals for jellyfish stings. Usually, the only medics well versed for this type of treatment lived along the coast.

Sakura finally found what she was looking for and summoned a small bottle of Zinc gluconate from the scroll with a piece of small instruction paper attached to it. The scroll she was currently working from had been part of the medical kit that Dr. Shinno had given her in the Land of Waves. She was lucky that he had been generous enough to give her such a valuable scroll with so many types of medicine sealed into it. Only after her nursing internship did she realize and comprehend the value of this gift.

She poured a little bit of the powder into a solution and mixed it quickly. Once the powder was dissolved, she used a syringe to draw out the solution and then inject it near Naruto's heart. From the very little she knew about Jellyfish stings, she remembered that the venom typically affected the heart and blood. Sakura wanted to make sure that the blood around Naruto's heart received the most dosage.

Naruto was still breathing hard and sweating profusely. Sakura had wanted to start treatment on the poison first and then move onto the next priority, the chest wound. It was nothing short of a miracle that Naruto's lung hadn't fully collapsed from the injury. She felt around his side and to her best judgement he was only in the early stages of air collecting inside of the pleural space of the lung. She needed to relieve the pressure that was starting to build up. She took out a hollow open ended needle and very carefully inserted it into Naruto's chest, just penetrating the pleural lining of the lung. Air flowed out of the needle, relieving the pressure that was starting to build. She'd have to leave it there for a while, until Naruto's lung could fully expand again. She treated the wound itself with higher quality medicine and stitches before changing out the bandaging.

Although minor compared to Naruto's other problems, Sakura also took the time to re-treat and change out the bandaging around his injured hand and feet. Her final task, for now anyways, was to summon a small IV bag which she had connected to Naruto's arm. For him to have the quickest recovery, he'd need to stay hydrated and be provided with the proper nutrients.

She finally leaned back and took a deep breath, being thankful she had done the internship at the hospital. One day, she'd learn how to heal with her chakra. If she had that skill, she would have been able to help Naruto recover much quicker.

She left him to rest and stepped outside where everyone was waiting anxiously. Even Sasuke looked a little jittery.

"It's not good, but I think he'll be ok. Honestly, given how he was wounded and the type of poison that had been used, it's amazing that he's not dead. A miracle even. I don't know how to explain it but I guess he's just super resilient or something."

Sasuke noticed Ino flinch out of the corner of his eye.

"I don't mean to take the attention off of Naruto, but do you think you could take a look at Ino?" Shikamaru suggested.

Sakura nodded as she walked up to Ino and examined her nose. First, it needed to be straightened. Sakura gently put her fingers on the side of Ino's nose.

"Brace yourself, this is going to hurt."

Ino nodded but still let out a yelp of pain as Sakura suddenly moved her nose back into place.

"You ok Ino?" Sakura asked after Ino had a chance to collect herself.

"Yeah… yeah it's fine." Ino replied as she slowed her breathing back to normal, covering her face with her hands.

"You'll need to be careful with it until you can see a proper Doctor. Same with your ankle. You need to take it easy. I'm sure I can get the swelling to go down if we have you rest with Naruto and-"

"Thanks Sakura, but I'm going to pass on that. Team 10 is going to head out and finish the exams on our own." Ino interrupted.

Everyone looked at her surprised.

"Ino… don't you want to be here when Naruto wakes up?" Sakura asked confused.

"I… No. I don't want to be here. He's your teammate not mine Sakura." Ino replied, a little harsh with her words.

Shikamaru stepped forward trying to figure out what was wrong. "Ino, what's going on with you? We can take a day and stick around to see-"

"I DON'T want to stick around Shikamaru!" Ino shouted at him. "I don't want to be here anymore! A lot of shit went down before you guys showed up and…" Ino took a deep breath, lowering her voice. "I just want us to go our separate ways ok? Besides, in these exams it's each team for itself. Isn't it?"

Shikamaru looked like he was about to say something else until Choji put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. The Akimichi turned to Ino.

"We can go, but I'm going to carry you for a while. Like Sakura said, you need to take it easy on your ankle."

Ino nodded. "That's fine… and thanks Choji."

Sakura just stood there speechless, unsure of how to take Ino reaction. Her friend had a point… but still, Ino was acting so cold.

Shikamaru started to grab his gear, getting ready to head out. "Wish the loudmouth a speedy recovery from us ok? We'll check in on him once this exam is over I guess…"

Sakura nodded to Shikamaru as he shouldered his gear. "Will do."

"Wait."

Everyone turned and was surprised to find Sasuke staring Ino down, almost inspecting her. He waited a while before speaking up again.

"Do you know?"

Ino hesitated before replying, "I'm not sure what you're talking about…"

"Really? I think you do. Tell me the truth, do you know?" Sasuke replied.

To the rest of the group, the conversation must have been really confusing. Ino however, knew exactly what Sasuke was referring to. She glanced back at the cave where Naruto was before locking eyes with him again. Slowly, she nodded her head.

"Then you understand the importance of keeping… IT… a secret. Under no circumstances do you have the right to share what you know with anyone, not even your teammates. The only one who can share that information is Naruto and Naruto alone."

Again, Ino slowly nodded her head. She wasn't planning on telling anyone about the Kyuubi anytime soon. In fact, she'd like to forget the whole thing happened.

"Good." Sasuke finished before leaving them to go into the cave to check on Naruto without saying goodbye.

Sakura just shook her head more confused than ever now. Everyone was acting weird. She'd have to get to the bottom of it. In the meantime, she had to send off her friend. Sakura reached into her medical pouch and brought out a few pills, handing them over to Ino. "These pain killers are pretty strong. They'll get you through the next few days."

Ino took them and was quick to pop one into her mouth and pocket the rest. "You're a life saver Sakura. Thank you!" Ino gave her friend a departing hug.

Sakura patted her on the back. "You know… if there's something bothering you, you can talk to me right?"

Sakura felt Ino nod her head before breaking the embrace. "Thanks… I might take you up on that. I just need some time to myself first. Clear my head, you know?"

Sakura didn't really know what was going on with her friend, but nodded her head anyways. "I understand."

Ino turned and climbed onto Choji's back. Team 10 took off with Ino only sparing one last glance towards the cave where Naruto lay.

* * *

Sakura made her way back into the cave to find Sasuke sitting on a rock staring at the entrance. He didn't say anything as she walked by and checked in on Naruto. Luckily, the bandages looked clean which meant that her stitching had properly closed up the wound. The area already looked less red and swollen, which hopefully meant that the antidote was already taking affect.

Sakura glanced up and saw that Sasuke was still aimlessly staring at the entrance of the cave. Seeing as they were going to be there for a while, Sakura decided to cut to the chase with what she was thinking.

"Sasuke, what were you talking to Ino about?"

The Uchiha glanced her way for a moment before looking forward again. "Nothing".

"Really? Because it seemed like to me you nearly threatened Ino if she told anyone Naruto's 'secret'."

"I didn't threaten her."

"Ok, you gave her a 'stern warning' if that makes you feel better. Still, don't you think I should know what's going on?"

"Leave it alone Sakura."

Despite her teammate's stubbornness Sakura maintained a calm voice. "How can I leave it alone? There's something big that everyone seems to know but me. Sasuke, I care about Naruto same as you. I-"

Sasuke sighed, cutting her off. "It's not my secret to share. When Naruto wakes up, you can ask him yourself. I'm sure the Dobe will fill you in."

Sakura nodded slowly taking in the information. She liked that Sasuke used the word 'when' rather than 'if'.

"Fine, but at least tell me this. From a medical standpoint, does… whatever this secret is... affect Naruto in a way that I should know about?"

Sasuke opened and then closed his mouth. He took a moment to think over his words carefully before finally speaking.

"I think… Naruto is going to recover faster than you think…"

Sakura waited for him to say more but the Uchiha fell silent. "Huh… well at least something is going our way I guess."

* * *

 _Two days later_

Naruto sat up with a gasp of air. For a moment, he thought he was blind. Everything was so dark that it took him a little while to finally focus in on the little light coming from a small fire nearby. Everything on him ached from not having wiggled around in a while. As he moved his torso, he felt a sharp pain in his in chest. Looking down, he saw his shirt was off and his chest was wrapped in bandages. He gently felt the area, his mind starting to recall some of the events from the past few days.

He looked up when he started to hear a choking sound. Sakura was sitting there trying to eat some noodles from a bowl but had been startled by her teammate's sudden burst of life. She finally managed to get down whatever was clogging her throat as she recovered her breath.

"Naruto! Holy shit, I can't believe you're awake!" She hurry and scrambled over to him.

Sasuke, who had also been eating by the fire, stood up and approached them. "Hn, told you he'd make a quick recovery."

"Just because he is awake doesn't mean he's fully recovered!" Sakura said with some worry as she guided Naruto back onto his back. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better. Feels like someone stuck me in the lung with a hot needle", Naruto replied.

"Well… to be honest that's not too far from the truth. Do you remember what happened?"

Naruto Nodded, "someone shot me with an arrow, and then I started falling and…" Naruto's eyes went wide for a moment. "What happened to Ino?!" he said suddenly a little panicked.

Sakura thought for a moment how to answer that. "Ino is… fine. She took a few bumps but she's fine. You just need to keep worrying about yourself. Not only were you shot, but you were poisoned. I didn't think you'd be awake for a few more days to be honest, let alone be able to sit up."

"Poisoned? Huh, other than the pain in my chest I feel fine now." Naruto took a moment to look around the cave. "Where's Team 10?"

Sakura gave Naruto a weird look. "Team 10… decided to go on their own a few days ago."

"Oh… I guess that it's good they're trying to finish the exam right? Besides, they must have known that a stupid arrow wouldn't keep me down for long. I'm going to get some clothes on, eat a bowl of ramen, and then we're going to go out there and kick some ass! Believe -"

"Dobe", Sasuke interrupted, "She knows."

Naruto looked at him a little confused. "She knows?" Naruto glanced at Sakura for a moment not knowing what Sasuke was talking about.

"Ino… She knows." Sasuke repeated.

Naruto continued to look at Sasuke with a raised eyebrow. "What does she know?"

"Naruto", Sasuke crouched down to get a little closer, "Ino knows about 'it' ".

"It?"

"Yeah. It."

Naruto started to open mouth to ask a follow up question when his brain finally connected the dots. Naruto felt very cold as the blood seemed to drain from his face. "It…. You mean…."

Sasuke simply nodded.

Naruto started to rub his face with his hands. He suddenly felt very tired. "How?"

"I don't know." Sasuke said flatly.

"Ok hold on a second", Sakura interjected into the conversation staring at the Blond as he held his hands over his face. "What's this big secret you have Naruto? Sasuke refuses to tell me and it seems like Ino figured it out and-"

"The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside of me when I was a baby." Naruto muttered behind his hands.

Being around Naruto over the years had callused Sakura to all manner of jokes, pranks, and other ridiculous activities. She had become so used to him that she was hardly surprised anymore at the random stuff he chose to say or do. Of all the answers or secrets Naruto could have told her about, she figured it wouldn't really be all that surprising to her at this point.

Boy was she wrong.

"Naruto don't be stupid." She replied, rolling her eyes. "That's the dumbest thing I ever heard!"

"It's true, really!" He replied, sitting up onto his elbows again with a grunt. "The Kyuubi is sealed inside of me! It's where that red chakra came from in the Land of Waves."

Sakura just rose an eyebrow looking at him skeptically. "Ok. So, you're telling me that inside of you right now is a monstrous demon fox and that it was sealed by one of the greatest ninja that ever lived?" Sakura actually started to laugh. Naruto was really selling thing.

"It's TRUE!" Naruto started to say a little irritated that she didn't believe him.

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, the Dobe's not joking on this one."

Sakura immediately shut up. There was no way in hell Sasuke would ever go in on a joke or prank with Naruto. Sakura just looked at Naruto for a while without saying anything.

Naruto bit his tongue as he waited for Sakura to say something. When she failed to do so, he decided to take the initiative.

"So… listen I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I'm supposed to keep it a secret. I think you two deserve to know since… well you're my teammates. I've also been hesitant to tell you because I thought you both would hate-"

"Naruto, just shut up." Sakura said as she leaned forward and gave him a hug. Now it was his turn to be surprised. She hugged him in silence for a while before breaking to speak.

"Don't you ever think that Sasuke or I would ever hate you ok? That's just nonsense. I… I can't believe you've shouldered this burden all by yourself for so long!"

Naruto's mouth flopped open. "You're not freaked out?"

"Of course I'm freaked out! At the same time though, I'm kind of grateful that you have the Kyuubi. There's no way you would have survived your injuries without it." Sakura replied.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief. He didn't know how he felt about Sakura's last statement, but he supposed he could see her point. "Thanks Sakura, that… wow… I feel bad I ever doubted you."

"We all have our burdens and shit to deal with Dobe." Sasuke spoke up. "Sakura has been dealing with insecurities about being weak and your dealing with the Fox. It may look a little different, but each of us has our issues."

"Yeah, so what's your burdens?" Sakura scoffed, a little annoyed that Sasuke aired her dirty laundry so openly.

A small smirk appeared on Sasuke's face. "Me? My burden is the greatest of all. I have to put up with you two on a day to day basis."

Naruto was too shocked to laugh. "Sasuke… did you just tell a joke?"

"No."

Sakura pointed at him. "Yes you did!"

Sasuke's smirk disappeared as he frowned. "Whatever." He walked back to the fire and retrieved his bowl of food and handed it to Naruto. "Here have this, I'm done anyways."

"Thanks!" Naruto happily accepted the nearly untouched dinner and was quick to gobble it down, his stomach growling after not having any solid foods for a few days. The dinner didn't quite satisfy his insatiable appetite, but it was a start. "So, what's the plan then? Should we get packed up and head out?"

Sakura shook her head. "You need to keep resting. Kyuubi or not, you still sustained a very serious injury and haven't quite healed all the way."

"Nah, I'm fine! Really, watch this!" Naruto slowly stood up, taking care to not move too fast. It hurt but he was able to move a little bit. "See?"

"You're moving at turtle speed Dobe. Of course, for you that's not out of the ordinary." Sasuke said, poking fun at the Blond.

Before Naruto could respond, Sakura raised her hand to stop him. "Naruto, don't take the bait." She turned to the Uchiha, "and you need to stop goading him. I'm trying to be serious here, Naruto really shouldn't be moving around."

"Awww come on Sakura, I'll be fine! We've already lost a few days on this exam. If we take anymore down time, then we won't be able to pass!" Naruto pleaded.

Sakura sighed. "…fine, BUT you have to promise to stay out of any fights ok? Let me and Sasuke handle the dangerous situations. I'm already worried about you traveling around and I don't need you to be getting into a fight as you are right now."

Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "You got it!"

"Alright then," Sasuke spoke up a small smile on his face again. "We'll take off in the morning. We might have a chance at passing this thing after all."

* * *

 _The next day_

Sasuke was starting to get concerned.

Traveling had been slow thus far, which wasn't surprising. Naruto wasn't at 100% which meant that Sakura insisted that they take frequent breaks. That was expected though. Honestly, the Uchiha was just relived that they got another chance at all to finish this test. He had assumed that Naruto wouldn't be able to travel until after the deadline of the exam.

No, Sasuke's real concern wasn't their speed, it was the lack of other Genin in the canyon.

They still needed to get a second scroll, which meant confronting another team. Problem was, that there didn't seem to be any teams around. It was getting late in the week. Sasuke guessed that a lot of them had probably made it to finish line, died, or given up by now.

Part way through the day, he had decided to start leading Team 7 to where the tower would be. He figured that maybe they'd get lucky and catch a team trying to make it to the finish line. He still had the advantage of being able to navigate this canyon well thanks to his Sharingan.

Finally, a grey cement structure came into view. Sasuke came to stop and started looking around to see if he could spot other Genin or any good hiding places. Eventually, his eyes fell upon a panting Naruto who was leaning against the canyon wall with his eyes closed. He must have been in pain, but Sasuke hadn't heard him bitch at all while traveling. Although he'd never say it, the Uchiha was impressed with his teammate.

"Let's stay here for a while." Sasuke said motioning for them to follow him to some cover. This part of the canyon was dry, and mostly open save for a few bushes. He figured hiding behind the scrub would be better than not hiding at all.

They sat there for a while, gambling that something would happen soon. The only thing that interrupted the silence was Sakura scolding Naruto. She insisted that he use this opportunity to lay down and rest from the days travel. He of course had been a smart ass which caused her to scold him some more and round and round the circle went.

Sasuke sighed. To borrow the Nara's favorite word, they were being troublesome.

They sat there the rest of the day and nothing ended up happening. No ninja, no animals, no movement of any kind. Frustration was starting to well up in Sasuke. This was supposed to be his opportunity to cut loose, but he didn't have an outlet.

Not wanting to call attention to themselves, they didn't end up building a fire that night. Sasuke and Sakura took turns keeping watch through the night, letting Naruto sleep though it to help speed up his recovery. The morning light was just starting to peek down inside of the canyon when Sasuke woke up to Sakura shaking his shoulder.

"Sasuke! Someone's coming!" She frantically whispered.

He immediately bolted up into a sitting position and started to look around. In the distance there were three small dots approaching. He smiled. Finally, their gamble was starting to pay off.

As the Genin team got closer, he noticed something odd. One of them was huge while the other two looked small, very small. To add to the strangeness, the large guy was carrying a wooden crate on his back like some poorly fashioned backpack.

"Sasuke, what are we going to do? Should we prepare an ambush or something?" Sakura whispered.

Sasuke shook his head. "No. I'm going to go fight them. You stay here and watch Naruto. Don't interfere."

"Sasuke don't be dumb. That sounds like something Naruto would do." Sakura replied.

Sasuke frowned. He knew they had the greater advantage if they tried an ambush together, however… this whole test wasn't really about becoming a Chunin for him. He saw this exam as his proving grounds where he could push himself and see how far he had come in his training. If he couldn't beat some rag tag team of Genin… what hope would he ever have of beating Itachi? The mere thought of his brother caused Sasuke to clench his fist and harden his resolve. He knew it was selfish to put his teammates at greater risk, but his ambition drowned out those thoughts.

"No. I'm fighting them alone." Before Sakura could object, Sasuke stood from their hiding place and walked out into the open clearing. Sasuke had chosen this part of the canyon on purpose. It was wide and would give him plenty of room to maneuver in a fight. He stood alone with his arms crossed as the strange group of Genin approached.

Now that they were closer, Sasuke could get a good look at them. They were a Genin team from Suna that he didn't recognize. The big guy was covered with plates of armor from the neck down. In between the armor plates, Sasuke could see thick leather holding it all together. He also wore a helmet that came down and covered his mouth. The only actual skin Sasuke could see on the guy was his eyes through a front opening in the helmet. The guy was obviously tough and protected, but Sasuke wasn't worried. His speed was probably a joke given his large stature and the amount of heavy metal covering his body. He looked more like a civilian soldier than he did a Shinobi.

The big guy's two teammates lagged behind him. They were small boys, smaller than even Sakura. Also, unlike the big guy, they didn't look like they had an ounce of protection on them. Sasuke raised an eyebrow as the trio came to a stop.

"Well, well, look what we have here? Where's your teammates Konoha? Waiting to attack us from behind I'm sure." One of the smaller Genin spoke with a squeaky voice as he looked around the area.

Sasuke shook his head. "No, I'll be your only opponent. I don't need them to help me when fighting Suna trash like you." Sasuke taunted as he activated his Sharingan.

The other small one spoke up also in a squeaky voice. "Is that so? Well then, we'll gladly take your scroll and add it to our collection!"

The two small Genin leaped back and created a safe distance between themselves and Sasuke. Both of them brought out a scroll and each summoned a metal protective dome with open viewports. They looked like two miniature one man bunkers. Each of the small Genin climbed inside of their respective bunker through a small hatch, which they locked from the inside. The big guy didn't acknowledge them at all as he stood there, gazing at Sasuke with emotionless eyes from behind his helmet.

Why the two little ones were hiding was a mystery to Sasuke, but he figured this would give him time to take the big guy out of action. Once the big guy was down for the count, he'd deal with the little fellows that were hiding in their domes.

Sasuke took the initiative, running forward towards the big guy. Sasuke would overcome him with speed. Right as he reached him, the crate on the bug guy's back suddenly exploded as four puppet arms with blades on the end came out and launched forward to try and skewer him. The Sharingan barely allowed Sasuke to dodge the blades as he bent his body into weird angles to avoid all four blades. He quickly leaped back.

To Sasuke surprise, the big guy pursued him. He wasn't as slow and clumsy as Sasuke expected. In fact, he was moving and striking as fast as Sasuke would. The big guy threw a punch which connected with Sasuke's crossed arms. The punch rocked Sasuke as he was sent flying. He tumbled on the ground a distance before rolling up onto his feet.

Well that had all been… unexpected.

The big guy looked like some sort of monster with four bladed puppet arms attached to his back. He didn't let Sasuke have a breather as he rushed forward at speeds which should have been too quick for a man his size, especially with all the armor he was wearing. It was all Sasuke could do to dodge the big guy's fists and bladed arms as the Suna Genin seeked to either smash or impale the Uchiha. Sasuke wanted to retaliate, but between the man's aggressive offense and being covered head to toe with protection there were no weak spots to be found.

Maybe a fireball would make the difference.

Sasuke leaped back and bought himself enough time to weave a few hand signs. "Katon: Gokakyu No Jutsu!" Sasuke launched the fireball at nearly point blank range.

Like a fish on a fishing line, the big guy was unnaturally jerked to the side by some invisible force as the fireball flew by him, not touching him at all.

Sasuke growled as he brought out a kunai and started to parry with the puppet blades. His frustration mounted as he tried to think out the situation in his brain. This guy obviously focused totally on his Taijutsu and strength training, so how was he controlling those fake arms on his back?

Suddenly, all of the four puppet arms were retracted as the Suna-nin suddenly turned around and started running towards the domes protecting his teammates. Sasuke gave pursuit as he spotted Sakura trying to rush in and attack one of the domes.

"SAKURA!" Sasuke shouted to alarm her just as the Suna-nin bore down on her. At the last second she dove to the side and rolled on the ground to dodge four blades as they impaled the ground she had just been on. Sasuke used the opportunity to drop kick the Suna-nin from behind as hard as he could. It didn't do any damage through the armor, but it did cause the big guy to stumble forward off balance.

Sakura quickly stood and created as much distance between herself and Sasuke as she could. "His teammates are puppeteers! One of them must be controlling the fake arms, while the other one is helping him with his movements! If we take them out he'll be a sitting duck!"

Sasuke nodded as he understood. Sakura was creating distance between them to force the Suna-nin into attacking one or the other. By attacking one, the other could attack the two small guys.

The big guy growled as he stayed by the domes, not taking the bait. The ends of the puppet arms flipped around as the blades were tucked into the arms and replaced by barrels. They all kicked back as four wooden containers were launched into the air high above Sasuke and Sakura. The wooden containers opened and needles began to rain down around the field.

Sasuke cursed as he dodged backwards, using his kunai to deflect some of the needles. He managed to get out of range without getting hit. Looking over, he could see that Sakura had not been so lucky. She didn't have his reaction time or his visual perception. She managed to get out of range after being stuck by a few needles.

She quickly pulled them out. "Sasuke, puppet needles are usually poisonous! Don't let yourself get hit ok?" He watched her reach into her pouch and pull out a green pill which she ate.

"So you've been poisoned then? Sakura, stay out of this fight and go take care of yourself. I'll take care of them."

She shook her head. "No way, that little pill I just took should hold off any symptoms long enough for me to finish this fight."

"Sakura I can do this! Let me finish this fight ok?" Sasuke said a little aggressively at her. "Go treat yourself, I'll ask you for help if I need it."

"Why are you so against being helped?!" She spat back.

Sasuke shook his head. She couldn't understand. This Suna-nin appeared to be a juggernaut to them here and now, but compared to Itachi? This Suna-nin was a nobody. Maybe for now though, he could use Sakura's help. They were a team after all. Maybe…

No.

His eyebrows furrowed in anger as he stared at the Suna-nin with his Sharingan blazing. If Itachi had the power to slaughter an entire clan, then Sasuke could put this big mother fucker down.

He launched himself forward and ran straight at the Suna-nin. Sasuke watched as the ends of the arms rotated again, once again brandishing blades. Sasuke reached into his pouch and threw a few smoke bombs around the area, making it difficult to see him or the big Suna-nin. Sasuke smirked as his opponent's movements suddenly became jerky. The puppeteers were having a hard time directing something they couldn't see very well. Sasuke got in close, dodging and deflecting blades with his kunai. No movements were wasted as he dodged the blades by the narrowest of margins. When he had openings, he slashed at the leather between the metal armor plates. The leather was thick and tough, but Sasuke was able to break through it leaving shallow cuts. The big Suna-nin snarled as he forced Sasuke to jump away by bringing both of his fists down, attempting to literally crush the Uchiha.

Sasuke jumped right back into the fight. When he looked at the opponent in front of him, he didn't see some Suna Genin, he saw his brother perched on top of a tower shrouded in darkness under faint moonlight. He saw Uchiha blood flowing freely on the streets. He saw Itachi walking away because Sasuke hadn't been worth killing.

The Suna-nin was actually forced to take a step backwards as Sasuke fought with increased ferocity. Sasuke let his anger fuel him, driving him towards beating the obstacle in front of him, this juggernaut of a ninja that was unknowingly standing between him and his ultimate ambition.

Sasuke stopped when suddenly the Suna-nin's extra puppet arms fell, hanging limp from the ninja's back. Both ninja looked confused for a moment, until the Suna-nin tried to strike Sasuke. The punch was easy to dodge and anticipate. The Suna-nin was much slower than before. For the first time in the fight, the Suna-nin spoke.

"What's going on?! What did you do?!" the ninja shouted from behind his helmet.

Sasuke just shook his head. Looking over, he noticed that the air had cleared from his smoke bomb. Standing on each of the small bunkers was a group of Naruto clones holding the puppeteers upside down by their feet. The puppeteers struggled to get free, but they were too small to put up much of a fight against Naruto and his clones, even with Naruto injured. Sasuke frowned as the large ninja also took notice of Naruto and swiftly fell to his knees putting his hands up.

"I yield, please do not hurt us." He reached under a piece of his armor and brought out two scrolls, one Heaven and one Earth. "Here, which one do you need?"

Sasuke let out a grunt of annoyance as he stepped forward and snatched both of the scrolls. "I'm taking both." There was a tactical advantage to taking both and forcing this team to go out and try to take some scrolls from lingering Genin out in the canyons. Sasuke was just irritated that his fight had been interrupted.

The Suna-nin hesitated like he was going to object, but then relented as he sighed in defeat. "Very… very well." He got up and slowly lumbered over to retrieve his struggling teammates from the group of Narutos. Naruto had his clones keep a hold of the two small puppeteers as they escorted the Suna team back down the canyon path leaving the real Naruto behind with the rest of Team 7.

Although slightly fatigued from summoning clones in his current state, Naruto strolled over with a big grin. "Thanks for giving me some cover with those smoke bombs. When did you see me trying to sneak behind the big guy?"

"I didn't." Sasuke replied as he pocketed the two scrolls. "You shouldn't have gotten involved, I had that under control."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? It looked like he was giving you and Sakura a pretty hard time."

"I was fine, I told Sakura to stay out of it too."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he started to understand a little better what was going on. "Ahhh I get it, this is another one of your weird Uchiha pride moments. Can't have help from anybody because you're a loner right? Come on man, I thought we had moved past that."

Sasuke shook his head. "You don't get it."

"What don't I get?" Naruto responded calmly, trying to work out the situation.

"Nothing." Sasuke said as he turned away and started to walk towards Sakura who was self-treating some wounds. He sighed when he sensed Naruto shuffle up quickly behind him.

"Why are you isolating yourself again?"

"I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"NO… I'm not."

Sakura looked up a little unhappy as the two boys neared. She finished bandaging herself up as they approached.

"Are you ok Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, it was a weak poison. Nothing I couldn't treat quickly." She looked back and forth between the two boys. What's going on with you two?"

Before Sasuke could respond, Naruto replied. "Oh just trying to get Sasuke to tell me why he's being an asshole. You know, the usual."

Sasuke frowned at that.

Sakura gave Sasuke a disapproving look. "Yeah, well don't let me interrupt. I was wondering the same thing myself."

Sasuke looked back and forth between the two of them as they stood silent, waiting for his response.

"This is stupid, let's get to the tower so we can pass this thing." Sasuke finally said, trying to dodge the conversation.

Naruto put a hand onto his forehead and pretended like he was going to faint. "I don't know, I'm feeling pretty woozy after making some clones. I might need to camp here again for the night to rest up before we go to the tower. What do you think Sakura?"

Sakura gave Sasuke a small evil grin as she caught onto what Naruto was doing. She walked over and put her hand on Naruto's head. "You're right, you don't feel so good. We might have to stay here and rest for a few nights for you to properly heal. Dang it, it looks like we won't make it back to the tower in time to finish the exam." She snapped her fingers like she was disappointed.

Sasuke glared at the both of them. "You two can't be serious…"

As if to drive the point home, Sakura and Naruto folded their arms and sat down onto the ground, not moving from the spot.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched as he looked back and forth between them. "You wouldn't possibly throw the exams just to try and get me to talk."

"Try me." Both of them sounded off at the exact same time.

Sasuke just stood there silent as he glared them down with his arms crossed. After a few minutes passed, Naruto finally spoke up.

"Just sit down and relax man. We want to hear what's going on with you. Just pretend I'm like your free therapist or something." Naruto said with a grin.

A vein appeared on Sasuke's temple.

Sakura turned to Naruto. "To be fair Naruto, you shouldn't be anyone's therapist. Ever."

Naruto waved his hands. "Hey, this isn't about me! Let's keep this about him."

Sakura nodded. "You're right." She turned and met Sasuke's gaze. "Sit down and let's hear what's on your mind Mr. dark and moody."

Sasuke took a deep, irritated breath through his nose as Naruto started laughing at Sakura's comment. Since when did these two get so comfortable saying whatever they wanted to him? Slowly and very reluctantly, Sasuke lowered himself down and sat on the ground in front of them. He closed his eyes as he tried to think of the right words to say.

"I'm frustrated." He finally said.

Naruto looked at him incredulously. "Well yeah, no shit Sher-" He was cut off as Sakura slapped him on the back of the head. Naruto grumbled something under his breath as he rubbed his head in silence waiting for Sasuke to continue.

"I… I feel like I'm being held back by being on a team. This whole second part of the exam I have yet to have an opportunity to fully cut loose. I keep having to worry about you two rather than growing stronger." Sasuke said bluntly.

Sakura crossed her arms a little offended. "I'm sorry, but are you really complaining that we had to help Naruto-"

Sasuke raised his hand to cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "I'm glad Naruto is alright." Sasuke turned to look at Naruto directly. "Despite my current frustrations, I would have made the same choices in rescuing you and giving you enough rest time to heal. Don't take what I'm saying personally."

Naruto thought on that for a moment as he gazed at Sasuke. Sasuke felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze. Although he didn't like to admit it, Naruto understood him the most out of everyone. Finally, Naruto responded:

"Sasuke, I want to ask you something, but first, does Sakura know about your… uh… ambition?"

Sakura looked around a little confused, thinking back to their first day as a team. "Sasuke wants to… kill someone right?" she asked, wondering if she had missed something.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah… but there's more to it than that. It's not my place to share it though, if Sasuke doesn't want you to know about it then-"

Again, Sasuke raised his hand and interjected himself into the conversation. "It's fine." He turned to face Sakura. "I want to kill the man that butchered my clan. He… he is my older brother Itachi."

For the second time in the last few days, Sakura's jaw nearly hit the ground. "WHAT?! What the hell you two, what else don't I know about my teammates?! First Naruto has the Kyuubi, now this…" She trailed off. "Sorry, I need to stay on topic. Thank you for sharing that with me Sasuke, that means a lot."

Sasuke gave her a slight nod.

"Ok then, now that that's out of the way", Naruto continued, "here's my question for you. Which is more important to you: getting stronger or killing Itachi?"

Sasuke looked back at the Blond a little confused and a little agitated that he was being forced to talk about his brother. "What's the difference, I need to get stronger to kill Itachi. Both are interconnected."

"Mmm yes and no. Think back to when we fought Green in the land of waves. Could you have beat her by yourself?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No."

"Yet", Naruto continued, "we did beat her together. You even gave her the finishing blow. Maybe I'm oversimplifying this but doesn't that mean you're stronger by having a team at your back?"

"I won't have a team at my back. Killing him is my ambition alone and I won't involve-" Sasuke started to respond.

"Why?" Naruto interrupted. "If getting revenge on Itachi is really your most important ambition, then why not stack the cards in your favor by having a team at your back?"

Sasuke felt his internal frustrations starting to grow, mostly because the Dobe's logic actually made sense. Logic be damned though, he'd kill his brother alone and prove himself the better man. "I have to do it alone."

Naruto shook his head. "I don't believe that, not for one second. You're making it harder on yourself than you have to. You're a dumbass if you think me and Sakura would ever let you face a guy like that alone."

"Besides," Sakura spoke up, "I think you are personally getting stronger by having a team, you just don't realize it. Didn't your second tome appear in your Sharingan after Naruto got hurt?"

Sasuke just snorted in response.

Naruto gave him a sly grin. "Really? I didn't know that. Aww you do care Sasuke, I'm so glad I could help you-"

"Fuck off Dobe."

"Love you too Teme." Naruto chuckled.

"Let's get back to the point." Sakura said, steering the conversation. "The point is, no matter how you look at it, you're better off having us than not. Every time you isolate yourself or distance yourself from the team, you're only making yourself weaker."

Sasuke wouldn't say it, but that comment stung. Deep down, he supposed that he should feel glad that his team was willing and ready to have his back. Naruto had proven himself to be more capable than Sasuke had initially thought and even Sakura had impressed him with her recently acquired skillsets. It didn't matter though. Despite their positivity and light that they brought into his life, it was always overshadowed by the darkness of his brother. How could Sasuke ever allow himself to be truly happy as long as Itachi was still out there breathing? His happiness and light had long since been snuffed out by his brother. At the end of the day, all Sasuke knew was darkness. He embraced it and let it fuel his hatred.

Itachi would be killed by Sasuke's hatred alone. Anything else would be injustice.

Still, he couldn't tell his teammates that. He would play along with what they wanted so he could get through the test, but he knew truly he would never ask them for help with his ambition. His pride would never allow it.

Sasuke closed his eyes and let a small smile appear on his face. "Well, you two got me there. You're right, I am stronger as part of a team. I'm sorry I've been closing myself off to you. I'll stop acting selfish."

Sakura and Naruto were taken aback, apparently they had not anticipated that response. Naruto was the first one to stand up with a big grin on his face. "About time you listened to some reason. I was afraid I'd have to knock some sense into you." Naruto stretched out his hand to help the Uchiha to his feet.

Sasuke stared at the hand for a moment before taking it and allowing Naruto to help him to his feet. For now, he'd let his teammates help and be part of his life. For all the darkness inside of him, he at least had enough sense to understand that he had formed a bond with Naruto, and had even started forming one with Sakura. He supposed taking Naruto's hand now was symbolic in an odd way. He'd accept the help offered to him.

One day though, there would be a time of reckoning for his brother. One day, Sasuke would be the Avenger he always claimed himself to be. One day, he'd make Itachi regret ever leaving him alive.

On that day, Sasuke would not be accepting the outstretched hands of his friends.

* * *

 _Extra:_

 _After the third ninja war_

Sweat poured from Zakaza's forehead as he finished yet another set of pushups. He grunted as he barely managed to finish the last one with shaking arms. His arms burned. It felt like gravity would suck him down any second and never let him back up again. In his moment of concentration, he didn't notice the physical trainer coming his way.

"Hey Master's little bitch! What's the matter, can't keep up with all the children around you? You should be ashamed." The large trainer that had been recruited crouched down next to Zakaza with a frown as all of the orphans in training looked on in silence in the large room. "Since you're older than those around you, I expect a little more from you. Give me some more pushups until I say stop."

Zakaza shook his head as he greedily sucked in air. "I can't! I'm at my limit!" Zakaza braced himself for what he knew would come next. Sure enough, he felt the trainers boot collide with his ribcage as the trainer punted him. Zakaza just laid there on his back as the trainer stood over him shouting, spittle coming from his mouth. He stopped paying attention to what the trainer was saying partway through because he had already heard it all before.

It had been like this now for the last few years. Eventually, the academic teachers contracted time expired and they were allowed to leave and head back to their lives. Once that happened, Zakaza and the Master had hired a few Missing-nin via a blood contract to come in and physically prepare the orphans to be warriors. The Master said that the time for chakra training and techniques would only come for them all after they had built a strong physical foundation. He wanted chakra to be an asset to their natural strength, not their only strength.

The results were starting to speak for themselves. Most of the orphans were now close to or at their pre-teen years. Proper nutrition and a few years of vigorous training had done wonders for them. Children that were once scrawny and weak were now strong and healthy. There were even a few exceptional individuals that were now stronger than Zakaza, despite him being their elder and having a little Chakra control training. Because of that, the trainers had been exceptionally hard on him and often made an example of him in front of the orphans, just like what they were doing now.

Zakaza refocused as he became vaguely aware that the trainer had finished his rant. With a shake of his head, the large Missing-nin went to the front of the room. Zakaza could only assume that they were about to start another round of harsh drills now that the trainer was in a foul mood. Before the trainer could get started, a door opened at the front of the room.

Everyone immediately fell to one knee as the Master walked through the door. Zakaza was actually surprised to see him. For the last month or so, Zakaza had only seen him briefly in passing. The Master had told him that he was working on a new project, a new type of Blood seal that could help them all with their training.

Silence was thick in the air as the Master surveyed the room with a smile. Finally, he spoke.

"What a sight to see. You all have my apologies, I have been away far too long. I had forgotten the feeling of walking in here and seeing so many of my children performing to such a high standard. Truly, your dedication to your physical training cannot be over exaggerated."

Zakaza noticed some of the children around him beginning to blush. He didn't know for sure if the Master really loved them all, but they all sure loved him. They all saw the older man as their savior, an adopted father so to speak. Zakaza was the only one in the room that had clear understanding of what the older man's true ambitions really were. The Master continued his speech.

"I assure you all that my time away working on my project has not been for naught. I am here to show you all today, the fruits of my labors. I'm sure you will quickly see the value and my reasoning for staying away for so long. Before I show you my little project, I have a pop quiz for you all. What is the strongest force in the universe?"

A few seconds later, an eager orphan stood up. "Master… is it the sun?"

Zakaza nodded his head as he found himself agreeing with that answer. While Zakaza had been trying to think of different Jutsus, the kid had looked at the question from a wider perspective. The sun seemed like a good enough answer.

The Master strolled around with his hands behind his back. "The sun huh? I agree with you that at face value, a giant burning ball of mass in the sky seems like an obvious choice of being the most powerful force in the universe… however… that is incorrect. I need you to think of this from an even wider perspective. Even the sun is subjugated to other stronger forces out there."

Now Zakaza was stumped. What could be more powerful than the sun?

A few minutes passed before another orphan stood up. "Master, I have two possible answers. Gravity and time. Aren't we and everything around us including the sun affected by those things?"

The Master gave him a smile. "Excellent answers. Indeed, we all have to abide under those laws of nature. For all the power behind the sun and every other star in the sky, they still lack the ability to be able to defy laws of nature. Normally, we would stop there. Scientifically speaking, I would be hard pressed to come up with a better answer myself… but… therein lies the problem. You cannot think of this answer from a scientific perspective, otherwise you're being too narrow with your mind. Some out there would disagree with me, but I propose to you all that the human life is the most powerful force in the universe."

Zakaza rose an eyebrow. Although he wouldn't say it out loud, he disagreed with his Master's statement. In Zakaza's opinion, humans were a small speck in the grand scheme of the universe. Looking around the room, Zakaza could see from the faces of the children that they were somewhat skeptical as well.

The Master gave them all a knowing smile. "Perhaps I should explain myself. Humans are so valuable because of our ability to reason and choose. Sure our bodies, like the sun, are affected by things like gravity and time. Yet, no force in the universe can truly control our souls, the essence of what makes us, us. Eons can pass and I will always be me whether alive or dead. Everything else, all life, all energy, all material either lacks the intelligence to understand the world around it or lacks the ability to make decisions for itself. For all the power behind the laws of nature, they still have to obey a certain way. Time moves forward, and gravity will always exert a certain force around mass."

The Master's smile disappeared as his voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Even the Gods are jealous of us. The perspective of the world is that we all should worship and fear them, but I believe they actually are the ones that should worship us. We can choose what we want to be, they can't. Kami cannot choose to not be Kami. The Shinigami cannot choose to not be the Shinigami. Why do you think they all want us to come to their version of whatever the afterlife is? Because they want to try and exert control over us because they cannot exert true control over themselves!" He almost shouted the last line.

The Master took a moment to compose himself before smiling again. "I would like to prove my ideas to you all now by showing you my latest project." The Master reached up one of his large sleeves and retrieved a piece of paper. It was white with a red seal drawn on it. "I traveled and met a sick old man looking for purpose in his life. In hopes that I could provide that purpose, he agreed to be sacrificed by me."

Zakaza was the only one to know better than to think the old man had 'willingly' sacrificed himself. He also knew better that to think that the Master's seal only required one sacrifice after working on it for a month. New Blood seals were complicated and often required multiple sacrifices to get it right.

"I collected his blood as a symbol of me exerting my will over his. I used his blood to draw this seal. Let me show you the power of humans." He put up two fingers and activated the seal. The characters drawn in blood glowed briefly before he slammed the paper to the ground.

At first, it didn't look like anything happened. Zakaza just kneeled there puzzled. What was it he was supposed to be seeing? He got his answer when he lifted his hand to scratch his chin. It wasn't much but it almost felt like his arm was tied to the ground with some weak elastics. He moved the other arm and felt the same thing. His eyes widened as he realized what was going on.

He was heavier… which meant…

"I have increased the gravity around this mountain using this blood seal." The Master confirmed to everyone. "I have used the power of humans to rewrite the laws of nature. Using this seal, I can increase or decrease the gravity to whatever I want. Right now we all are experiencing about a 20% increase in gravitation force. Over the next few years of your training, I will continuously increase the gravity surrounding this mountain. Your bodies will feel strained at all times but like a sword forged in the refiner's fire, the gravity will harden you. Your muscles will naturally grow stronger and your bones will harden to compensate for the increased load. You will be given a physical advantage that no other warrior in the world can replicate!"

All the orphans stood on their feet as they cheered, shouting praises towards their leader. Only Zakaza remained silent. He was the only one that knew where this was all going. This army in the making and fancy seals were all a means to an eventual end. Zakaza didn't know if he was doubtful of his Master's ambitions before, but now it was all starting to become real. As his Master had suggested earlier, he was looking at this situation from a wider perspective. The Master didn't want to use blood seals to control the Laws of Nature…

He wanted to use them to control the Gods.

* * *

 **Author Notes:**

 **Whelp that pretty much finishes the second part of the exams. Next chapter we'll see the out briefing to introduce the upcoming third test.**

 **Wanted to show a little more of Sakura and Sasuke this chapter. Sakura is starting to become a valuable member of the team, and Sasuke is still caught up in his ambitions. At this point in the story, I would say that Sasuke is more open and well connected to his team than at this same point in canon. That being said, I wanted to make it clear that Sasuke is still haunted by his brother. Will his ambition make him leave the village? Only time will tell.**

 **Why was Sakura's reaction to the Kyuubi so different from Ino's? Easy, Sakura was told the secret by her friend having only heard of stories about the terrible Kyuubi but never actually seeing the monster for herself. Ino was threatened directly by the fox while she beheld his terrible power.**

 **Also, please forgive me if I got something medically wrong with my writings on Sakura's medical treatment to Naruto. I'm not an expert in that sort of thing.**

 **Next chapter will see Naruto and Ino come face to face. Also, we'll check back in with Guy's quest to win the heart of Samui.**

 **Lastly, I'm going to take a brief break from writing. This story was published a little under a year ago, and with this chapter will be over 120,000 words. I've tried to stay consistent with monthly updates. I have loved this writing experience, but I noticed this chapter that I'm starting to feel a tad burned out. I suspect that some of you will notice that in the quality of this chapter. I never want writing this story to feel like a chore. I figure now is a good time to take a small break. My guess is that I'll try and post the net chapter sometime in March or April.**

 **Thanks for all your support!**


End file.
